Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Feb 1;41(1):443-50.
doi: 10.1042/BST20120313.

Genomics and biology of Rudiviruses, a model for the study of virus-host interactions in Archaea

David Prangishvili  1 , Eugene V Koonin, Mart Krupovic
Affiliations
Review

Genomics and biology of Rudiviruses, a model for the study of virus-host interactions in Archaea

David Prangishvili et al. Biochem Soc Trans. .

Abstract

Archaeal viruses, especially viruses that infect hyperthermophilic archaea of the phylum Crenarchaeota, constitute one of the least understood parts of the virosphere. However, owing to recent substantial research efforts by several groups, archaeal viruses are starting to gradually reveal their secrets. In the present review, we summarize the current knowledge on one of the emerging model systems for studies on crenarchaeal viruses, the Rudiviridae. We discuss the recent advances towards understanding the function and structure of the proteins encoded by the rudivirus genomes, their role in the virus life cycle, and outline the directions for further research on this model system. In addition, a revised genome annotation of SIRV2 (Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped virus 2) is presented. Future studies on archaeal viruses, combined with the knowledge on viruses of bacteria and eukaryotes, should lead to a better global understanding of the diversity and evolution of virus-host interactions in the viral world.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Cryo-electron micrograph of SIRV2 virions
Scale bar, 100 nm. Inset, negative-contrast electron micrograph of a terminal portion of the SIRV2 virion.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Genomic relationships between members of the family Rudiviridae
SIRV2 ORFs for which a function has been demonstrated or inferred in silico are shown in magenta. The names of ORFs, which encode proteins with experimentally verified functions, are underlined. Pairwise tblastx hits between rudiviral genomes are indicated by different shades of grey (the identity scale is included in the Figure). The structures of proteins of the Ligamenvirales (rudiviral or lipothrixviral) with orthologues in SIRV2 genome are shown above the SIRV2 genome map, with the source of each structure indicated in parentheses. The protein structures are coloured according to the secondary-structure elements: α-helices, blue; β-strands, magenta; coils, grey. The Figure was prepared using EasyFig [52] and UCSF Chimera [53].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pina M, Bize A, Forterre P, Prangishvili D. The archeoviruses. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2011;35:1035–1054. - PubMed
    1. Fu CY, Johnson JE. Structure and cell biology of archaeal virus STIV. Curr Opin Virol. 2012;2:122–127. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Iverson E, Stedman K. A genetic study of SSV1, the prototypical fusellovirus. Front Microbiol. 2012;3:200. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wirth JF, Snyder JC, Hochstein RA, Ortmann AC, Willits DA, Douglas T, Young MJ. Development of a genetic system for the archaeal virus Sulfolobus turreted icosahedral virus (STIV) Virology. 2011;415:6–11. - PubMed
    1. Klein R, Rossler N, Iro M, Scholz H, Witte A. Haloarchaeal myovirus phiCh1 harbours a phase variation system for the production of protein variants with distinct cell surface adhesion specificities. Mol Microbiol. 2012;83:137–150. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources