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Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga

Erazo-Garcia, Maria P. ; Sheyn, Uri ; Barth, Zachary K. ; Craig, Rory J. ; Wessman, Petronella LU ; Jivaji, Abdeali M. ; Ray, W. Keith ; Svensson-Coelho, Maria LU ; Cornwallis, Charlie K. LU and Rengefors, Karin LU , et al. (2025) In Science 388(6748).
Abstract

Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. In this work, we describe a 617–kilo–base pairs integrated giant viral element in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We resolved the integrated viral genome using long-read sequencing, identified a putative polintovirus-like integrase, and show that viral particles accumulate primarily during the stationary growth phase. A diverse array of viral-encoded selfish genetic elements is expressed during viral activity, including several Fanzor nuclease–encoding transposable elements. In addition, we show that field isolates of Chlamydomonas spp. harbor signatures of endogenous giant viruses related to the C.... (More)

Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. In this work, we describe a 617–kilo–base pairs integrated giant viral element in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We resolved the integrated viral genome using long-read sequencing, identified a putative polintovirus-like integrase, and show that viral particles accumulate primarily during the stationary growth phase. A diverse array of viral-encoded selfish genetic elements is expressed during viral activity, including several Fanzor nuclease–encoding transposable elements. In addition, we show that field isolates of Chlamydomonas spp. harbor signatures of endogenous giant viruses related to the C. reinhardtii virus that exhibit similar infection dynamics, suggesting that giant virus latency is prevalent in natural host communities. Our work describes an unusually large temperate virus of a unicellular eukaryote, substantially expanding the scope of cryptic viral infections in the virosphere.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science
volume
388
issue
6748
article number
eads6303
publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:105005562065
  • pmid:40208960
ISSN
0036-8075
DOI
10.1126/science.ads6303
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4c325588-57a2-4d1a-8abc-cc8cc6f2d69e
date added to LUP
2025-08-04 09:45:35
date last changed
2025-08-18 10:56:33
@article{4c325588-57a2-4d1a-8abc-cc8cc6f2d69e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. In this work, we describe a 617–kilo–base pairs integrated giant viral element in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We resolved the integrated viral genome using long-read sequencing, identified a putative polintovirus-like integrase, and show that viral particles accumulate primarily during the stationary growth phase. A diverse array of viral-encoded selfish genetic elements is expressed during viral activity, including several Fanzor nuclease–encoding transposable elements. In addition, we show that field isolates of Chlamydomonas spp. harbor signatures of endogenous giant viruses related to the C. reinhardtii virus that exhibit similar infection dynamics, suggesting that giant virus latency is prevalent in natural host communities. Our work describes an unusually large temperate virus of a unicellular eukaryote, substantially expanding the scope of cryptic viral infections in the virosphere.</p>}},
  author       = {{Erazo-Garcia, Maria P. and Sheyn, Uri and Barth, Zachary K. and Craig, Rory J. and Wessman, Petronella and Jivaji, Abdeali M. and Ray, W. Keith and Svensson-Coelho, Maria and Cornwallis, Charlie K. and Rengefors, Karin and Brussaard, Corina P.D. and Moniruzzaman, Mohammad and Aylward, Frank O.}},
  issn         = {{0036-8075}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6748}},
  publisher    = {{American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}},
  series       = {{Science}},
  title        = {{Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.ads6303}},
  doi          = {{10.1126/science.ads6303}},
  volume       = {{388}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}