Mimivirus is a genus of giant viruses, in the family Mimiviridae. Amoeba serve as their natural hosts. This genus contains a single identified species named Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV). It also refers to a group of phylogenetically related large viruses.
Hepeviridae is a family of viruses. Human, pig, wild boar, sheep, cow, camel, monkey, some rodents, bats and chickens serve as natural hosts. There are two genera in the family. Diseases associated with this family include: hepatitis; high mortality rate during pregnancy; and avian hepatitis E virus is the cause of hepatitis-splenomegaly (HS) syndrome among chickens.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) are molecules that closely resemble viruses, but are non-infectious because they contain no viral genetic material. They can be naturally occurring or synthesized through the individual expression of viral structural proteins, which can then self assemble into the virus-like structure. Combinations of structural capsid proteins from different viruses can be used to create recombinant VLPs. Both in-vivo assembly and in-vitro assembly have been successfully shown to form virus-like particles. VLPs derived from the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and composed of the small HBV derived surface antigen (HBsAg) were described in 1968 from patient sera. VLPs have been produced from components of a wide variety of virus families including Parvoviridae, Retroviridae, Flaviviridae, Paramyxoviridae and bacteriophages. VLPs can be produced in multiple cell culture systems including bacteria, mammalian cell lines, insect cell lines, yeast and plant cells.
A viroplasm, sometimes called "virus factory" or "virus inclusion", is an inclusion body in a cell where viral replication and assembly occurs. They may be thought of as viral factories in the cell. There are many viroplasms in one infected cell, where they appear dense to electron microscopy. Very little is understood about the mechanism of viroplasm formation.
Mimivirus-dependent virus Sputnik is a subviral agent that reproduces in amoeba cells that are already infected by a certain helper virus; Sputnik uses the helper virus's machinery for reproduction and inhibits replication of the helper virus. It is known as a virophage, in analogy to the term bacteriophage.
Mamavirus is a large and complex virus in the Group I family Mimiviridae. The virus is exceptionally large, and larger than many bacteria. Mamavirus and other mimiviridae belong to nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDVs) family. Mamavirus can be compared to the similar complex virus mimivirus; mamavirus was so named because it is similar to but larger than mimivirus.
A giant virus, sometimes referred to as a girus, is a very large virus, some of which are larger than typical bacteria. All known giant viruses belong to the phylum Nucleocytoviricota.
Marseilleviridae is a family of viruses first named in 2012. The genomes of these viruses are double-stranded DNA. Amoeba are often hosts, but there is evidence that they are found in humans as well. The family contains one genus and four species, two of which are unassigned to a genus. It is a member of the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses clade.
Megavirus is a viral genus, phylogenetically related to Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV). In colloquial speech, Megavirus chilense is more commonly referred to as just "Megavirus". Until the discovery of pandoraviruses in 2013, it had the largest capsid diameter of all known viruses, as well as the largest and most complex genome among all known viruses.
Alphacoronaviruses (Alpha-CoV) are members of the first of the four genera of coronaviruses. They are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses that infect mammals, including humans. They have spherical virions with club-shaped surface projections formed by trimers of the spike protein, and a viral envelope.
Pandoravirus is a proposed genus of giant virus, first discovered in 2013. It is the third largest in physical size of any known viral genus, behind Pithovirus and Megaklothovirus. Pandoraviruses have double stranded DNA genomes, with the largest genome size of any known viral genus.
Pandoraviridae is a proposed family of double-stranded DNA viruses that infect amoebae. There is only one genus in this family: Pandoravirus. Several species in this genus have been described, including Pandoravirus dulcis, Pandoravirus salinus and Pandoravirus yedoma.
Alphapithovirus, first described in a 2014 paper, is a genus of giant virus known from two species, Alphapithovirus sibericum, which infects amoebas and Alphapithovirus massiliense. It is a DNA based virus and is a member of the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses clade. The 2014 discovery was made when a viable specimen was found in a 30,000-year-old ice core harvested from permafrost in Siberia, Russia.
Mimivirus-dependent virus Zamilon, or Zamilon, is a virophage, a group of small DNA viruses that infect protists and require a helper virus to replicate; they are a type of satellite virus. Discovered in 2013 in Tunisia, infecting Acanthamoeba polyphaga amoebae, Zamilon most closely resembles Sputnik, the first virophage to be discovered. The name is Arabic for "the neighbour". Its spherical particle is 50–60 nm in diameter, and contains a circular double-stranded DNA genome of around 17 kb, which is predicted to encode 20 polypeptides. A related strain, Zamilon 2, has been identified in North America.
Pneumoviridae is a family of negative-strand RNA viruses in the order Mononegavirales. Humans, cattle, and rodents serve as natural hosts. Respiratory tract infections are associated with member viruses such as human respiratory syncytial virus. There are five species in the family which are divided between the genera Metapneumovirus and Orthopneumovirus. The family used to be considered as a sub-family of Paramyxoviridae, but has been reclassified as of 2016.
Chrysochromulina ericina virus 01B, or simply Chrysochromulina ericina virus (CeV) is a giant virus in the family Mimiviridae infecting Haptolina ericina, a marine microalgae member of the Haptophyta. CeV is a dsDNA virus.
Nucleocytoviricota is a phylum of viruses. Members of the phylum are also known as the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV), which serves as the basis of the name of the phylum with the suffix -viricota for virus phylum. These viruses are referred to as nucleocytoplasmic because they are often able to replicate in both the host's cell nucleus and cytoplasm.
Virosphere was coined to refer to all those places in which viruses are found or which are affected by viruses. However, more recently virosphere has also been used to refer to the pool of viruses that occurs in all hosts and all environments, as well as viruses associated with specific types of hosts, type of genome or ecological niche.
Phaeocystis globosa virus virophage, or PgVV, or Preplasmiviricota sp. Gezel-14T, is a polinton-like virus, which are small DNA viruses that are found integrated in protist genomes. Similar to virophages, PgVV requires a helper virus to replicate. Phaeocystis globosa virus virophage has a parasitic relationship with its helper virus species Phaeocystis globosa virus (PgV). They are a species of giant virus that infect algae of the genus Phaeocystis.
On Earth, frozen environments such as permafrost and glaciers are known for their ability to preserve items, as they are too cold for ordinary decomposition to take place. This makes them a valuable source of archeological artefacts and prehistoric fossils, yet it also means that there are certain risks once ancient organic matter is finally subject to thaw. The best-studied risk is that of decomposition of such organic matter releasing a substantial quantity of carbon dioxide and methane, and thus acting as a notable climate change feedback. Yet, some scientists have also raised concerns about the possibility that some metabolically dormant bacteria and protists, as well as always metabolically inactive viruses, may both survive the thaw and either threaten humans directly, or affect some of the animal or plant species important for human wellbeing.
