Cystovirus

Cystovirus
Virus classification
Group:	Group III (dsRNA)
Family:	Cystoviridae
Genus:	Cystovirus

Cystovirus is a genus of dsRNA virus, which infect certain Gram negative bacteria.

Characteristics

All cystoviruses are distinguished by their three strands (analogous to chromosomes) of dsRNA, totalling ~14 kb in length and their protein and lipid outer layer. No other bacteriophage have any lipid in their outer coat, though the Tectiviridae and the Corticoviridae have lipids within their capsids.

Most identified cystoviruses infect Pseudomonas species, but this is likely biased due to the method of screening and enrichment.^[1] The type species is Pseudomonas phage Φ6, but there are many other members of this family. Φ7, Φ8, Φ9, Φ10, Φ11, Φ12 and Φ13 have been identified and named,^[2] but other cystoviruses have also been isolated.^[1]

Members of the Cystoviridae appear to be most closely related to the Reoviridae,^[3] but also share homology with the Totiviridae. Cystoviruses are the only bacteriophage that are more closely related to viruses of eukaryotes than to other phage.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Silander OK, Weinreich DM, Wright KM, et al. (December 2005). "Widespread genetic exchange among terrestrial bacteriophages". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102 (52): 19009–14. doi:10.1073/pnas.0503074102. PMC 1323146. PMID 16365305. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/102/52/19009. 
2. ^ Mindich L, Qiao X, Qiao J, Onodera S, Romantschuk M, Hoogstraten D (August 1999). "Isolation of additional bacteriophages with genomes of segmented double-stranded RNA". J. Bacteriol. 181 (15): 4505–8. PMC 103579. PMID 10419946. http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/full/181/15/4505. 
3. ^ Butcher SJ, Dokland T, Ojala PM, Bamford DH, Fuller SD (July 1997). "Intermediates in the assembly pathway of the double-stranded RNA virus phi6". EMBO J. 16 (14): 4477–87. doi:10.1093/emboj/16.14.4477. PMC 1170074. PMID 9250692. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1170074. 

External links

• Viralzone: Cystovirus