Organic Lake virophage

Organic Lake virophage
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Varidnaviria
Kingdom:	Bamfordvirae
Phylum:	Preplasmiviricota
Class:	Virophaviricetes
Order:	Lavidavirales
Genus:	incertae sedis
(unranked):	Organic Lake virophage

Last updated August 25, 2025

Organic Lake virophage (OLV) is a double-stranded DNA virophage (a virus that requires the presence of another virus to replicate itself and in so doing limits the ability of the other virus to replicate). It was detected metagenomically in samples from Organic Lake, Antarctica.^[1]

Virology

The virus appears to be ~100 nanometers in diameter and to be enveloped. It preys on Organic Lake phycodnaviruses, which in fact may rather belong to Mimiviridae than to Phycodnaviridae .^[2]^[3]

The genome is double-stranded DNA and is 26,421 base pairs in length.^[4]

Proteins encoded by it include the major capsid protein, a DNA packaging ATPase, a putative DNA polymerase/primase and a N6 adenine specific DNA methyltransferase.^[1]

References

1 2 Yau, S.; Lauro, F. M.; Demaere, M. Z.; Brown, M. V.; Thomas, T.; Raftery, M. J.; Andrews-Pfannkoch, C.; Lewis, M.; Hoffman, J. M.; Gibson, J. A.; Cavicchioli, R. (April 2011). "Virophage control of antarctic algal host-virus dynamics". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 (15): 6163–8. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108.6163Y. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018221108 . PMC 3076838 . PMID 21444812.
↑ Eugene V Koonin, Mart Krupovic, Natalya Yutin: Evolution of double-stranded DNA viruses of eukaryotes: From bacteriophages to transposons to giant viruses, in: ResearchGate Literature Review February 2015, doi: 10.1111/nyas.12728, Figure 3
↑ Blog of Carolina Reyes, Kenneth Stedman: Are Phaeocystis globosa viruses (OLPG) and Organic Lake phycodnavirus a part of the Phycodnaviridae or Mimiviridae?, on ResearchGate, Jan. 8, 2016
↑ Zhou J, Zhang W, Yan S, Xiao J, Zhang Y, Li B, Pan Y, Wang Y (April 2013). "Diversity of virophages in metagenomic data sets". J Virol. 87 (8): 4225–4236. doi:10.1128/JVI.03398-12. PMC 3624350 . PMID 23408616.

"Organic Lake virophage". NCBI Taxonomy Browser. 938080.

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[yau-1] 1 2 Yau, S.; Lauro, F. M.; Demaere, M. Z.; Brown, M. V.; Thomas, T.; Raftery, M. J.; Andrews-Pfannkoch, C.; Lewis, M.; Hoffman, J. M.; Gibson, J. A.; Cavicchioli, R. (April 2011). "Virophage control of antarctic algal host-virus dynamics". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108 (15): 6163–8. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108.6163Y. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018221108 . PMC 3076838 . PMID 21444812.

[2] Eugene V Koonin, Mart Krupovic, Natalya Yutin: Evolution of double-stranded DNA viruses of eukaryotes: From bacteriophages to transposons to giant viruses, in: ResearchGate Literature Review February 2015, doi: 10.1111/nyas.12728, Figure 3

[3] Blog of Carolina Reyes, Kenneth Stedman: Are Phaeocystis globosa viruses (OLPG) and Organic Lake phycodnavirus a part of the Phycodnaviridae or Mimiviridae?, on ResearchGate, Jan. 8, 2016

[4] Zhou J, Zhang W, Yan S, Xiao J, Zhang Y, Li B, Pan Y, Wang Y (April 2013). "Diversity of virophages in metagenomic data sets". J Virol. 87 (8): 4225–4236. doi:10.1128/JVI.03398-12. PMC 3624350 . PMID 23408616.

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