A bacteriophage, also known informally as a phage, is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea. The term was derived from "bacteria" and the Greek φαγεῖν, meaning "to devour". Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have structures that are either simple or elaborate. Their genomes may encode as few as four genes and as many as hundreds of genes. Phages replicate within the bacterium following the injection of their genome into its cytoplasm.
A capsid is the protein shell of a virus, enclosing its genetic material. It consists of several oligomeric (repeating) structural subunits made of protein called protomers. The observable 3-dimensional morphological subunits, which may or may not correspond to individual proteins, are called capsomeres. The proteins making up the capsid are called capsid proteins or viral coat proteins (VCP). The capsid and inner genome is called the nucleocapsid.
An RNA virus is a virus which has RNA as its genetic material. The nucleic acid is usually single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) but it may be double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Notable human diseases caused by RNA viruses include the common cold, influenza, SARS, MERS, COVID-19, Dengue Virus, hepatitis C, hepatitis E, West Nile fever, Ebola virus disease, rabies, polio, mumps, and measles.
Virology is the scientific study of viruses – submicroscopic, parasitic organisms of genetic material contained in a protein coat – and virus-like agents. It focuses on the following aspects of viruses: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy. Virology is a subfield of microbiology.
A prophage is a bacteriophage genome inserted and integrated into the circular bacterial DNA chromosome or exists as an extrachromosomal plasmid. This is a latent form of a phage, in which the viral genes are present in the bacterium without causing disruption of the bacterial cell. Pro means "before", so, prophage means the stage of a virus in the form of genome inserted into host DNA before being activated inside the host.
Reoviridae is a family of double-stranded RNA viruses. Member viruses have a wide host range, including vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, protists and fungi. They lack lipid envelopes and package their segmented genome within multi-layered capsids. Lack of a lipid envelope has allowed three-dimensional structures of these large complex viruses to be obtained, revealing a structural and likely evolutionary relationship to the cystovirus family of bacteriophage. There are currently 97 species in this family, divided among 15 genera in two subfamilies. Reoviruses can affect the gastrointestinal system and respiratory tract. The name "reo-" is an acronym for "respiratory enteric orphan" viruses. The term "orphan virus" refers to the fact that some of these viruses have been observed not associated with any known disease. Even though viruses in the family Reoviridae have more recently been identified with various diseases, the original name is still used.
Filamentous bacteriophage is a family of viruses (Inoviridae) that infect bacteria. The phages are named for their filamentous shape, a worm-like chain, about 6 nm in diameter and about 1000-2000 nm long. The coat of the virion comprises five types of viral protein, which are located during phage assembly in the inner membrane of the host bacteria, and are added to the nascent virion as it extrudes through the membrane. The simplicity of this family makes it an attractive model system to study fundamental aspects of molecular biology, and it has also proven useful as a tool in immunology and nanotechnology.
Pseudoviridae is a family of viruses, which includes three genera.
The phi X 174 bacteriophage is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) virus that infects Escherichia coli, and the first DNA-based genome to be sequenced. This work was completed by Fred Sanger and his team in 1977. In 1962, Walter Fiers and Robert Sinsheimer had already demonstrated the physical, covalently closed circularity of ΦX174 DNA. Nobel prize winner Arthur Kornberg used ΦX174 as a model to first prove that DNA synthesized in a test tube by purified enzymes could produce all the features of a natural virus, ushering in the age of synthetic biology. In 1972–1974, Jerard Hurwitz, Sue Wickner, and Reed Wickner with collaborators identified the genes required to produce the enzymes to catalyze conversion of the single stranded form of the virus to the double stranded replicative form. In 2003, it was reported by Craig Venter's group that the genome of ΦX174 was the first to be completely assembled in vitro from synthesized oligonucleotides. The ΦX174 virus particle has also been successfully assembled in vitro. In 2012, it was shown how its highly overlapping genome can be fully decompressed and still remain functional.
Φ6 is the best-studied bacteriophage of the virus family Cystoviridae. It infects Pseudomonas bacteria. It has a three-part, segmented, double-stranded RNA genome, totalling ~13.5 kb in length. Φ6 and its relatives have a lipid membrane around their nucleocapsid, a rare trait among bacteriophages. It is a lytic phage, though under certain circumstances has been observed to display a delay in lysis which may be described as a "carrier state".
P1 is a temperate bacteriophage that infects Escherichia coli and some other bacteria. When undergoing a lysogenic cycle the phage genome exists as a plasmid in the bacterium unlike other phages that integrate into the host DNA. P1 has an icosahedral head containing the DNA attached to a contractile tail with six tail fibers. The P1 phage has gained research interest because it can be used to transfer DNA from one bacterial cell to another in a process known as transduction. As it replicates during its lytic cycle it captures fragments of the host chromosome. If the resulting viral particles are used to infect a different host the captured DNA fragments can be integrated into the new host's genome. This method of in vivo genetic engineering was widely used for many years and is still used today, though to a lesser extent. P1 can also be used to create the P1-derived artificial chromosome cloning vector which can carry relatively large fragments of DNA. P1 encodes a site-specific recombinase, Cre, that is widely used to carry out cell-specific or time-specific DNA recombination by flanking the target DNA with loxP sites.
Tectiviridae is a family of viruses with 10 species in five genera. Bacteria serve as natural hosts. Tectiviruses have no head-tail structure, but are capable of producing tail-like tubes of ~ 60×10 nm upon adsorption or after chloroform treatment. The name is derived from Latin tectus.
Double-stranded RNA viruses are a polyphyletic group of viruses that have double-stranded genomes made of ribonucleic acid. The double-stranded genome is used to transcribe a positive-strand RNA by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). The positive-strand RNA may be used as messenger RNA (mRNA) which can be translated into viral proteins by the host cell's ribosomes. The positive-strand RNA can also be replicated by the RdRp to create a new double-stranded viral genome.
Corticovirus is a genus of viruses in the family Corticoviridae. Corticoviruses are bacteriophages; that is, their natural hosts are bacteria. The genus contains two species. The name is derived from Latin cortex, corticis. However, prophages closely related to PM2 are abundant in the genomes of aquatic bacteria, suggesting that the ecological importance of corticoviruses might be underestimated. Bacteriophage PM2 was first described in 1968 after isolation from seawater sampled from the coast of Chile.
Phikmvvirus is a genus of viruses that infect bacteria. There are currently 16 species in this genus including the type species Pseudomonas virus phiKMV. Bacteriophage phiKMV and its relatives are known to be highly virulent phages, producing large clear plaques on a susceptible host. The only reported exception is phage LKA1, which yields small plaques surrounded by a halo. While all other P. aeruginosa-specific phikmvviruses use the Type IV pili as primary receptor, LKA1 particles attach to the bacterial lipopolysaccharide layer.
Enquatrovirus is a genus of bacteriophages in the order Caudovirales, in the family Podoviridae. Bacteria serve as natural hosts. There is currently only one species in this genus: the type species Escherichia virus N4.
Pseudomonas virus phiCTX is a virus of the family Myoviridae, genus Citexvirus.
Yingchengvirus is a genus of double stranded DNA viruses that infect haloarchaea. The genus was previously named Betasphaerolipovirus.
Megabirnaviridae is a family of double-stranded RNA viruses with one genus Megabirnavirus which infects fungi. The group name derives from member's bipartite dsRNA genome and mega that is greater genome size than families Birnaviridae and Picobirnaviridae. There is only one species in this family: Rosellinia necatrix megabirnavirus 1. Diseases associated with this family include: reduced host virulence.
Escherichia virus CC31, formerly known as Enterobacter virus CC31, is a dsDNA bacteriophage of the subfamily Tevenvirinae responsible for infecting the bacteria family of Enterobacteriaceae. It is one of two discovered viruses of the genus Karamvirus, diverging away from the previously discovered T4virus, as a clonal complex (CC). CC31 was first isolated from Escherichia coli B strain S/6/4 and is primarily associated with Escherichia, even though is named after Enterobacter.
