Structural and Functional Studies of Archaeal Viruses*
- C. Martin Lawrence‡1,
- Smita Menon‡,
- Brian J. Eilers‡,
- Brian Bothner‡,
- Reza Khayat§,
- Trevor Douglas‡ and
- Mark J. Young¶2
- Departments of ‡Chemistry and Biochemistry and ¶Microbiology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717 and the §Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037
- 1 To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: lawrence{at}chemistry.montana.edu. 2 To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: myoung{at}montana.edu.
Abstract
Viruses populate virtually every ecosystem on the planet, including the extreme acidic, thermal, and saline environments where archaeal organisms can dominate. For example, recent studies have identified crenarchaeal viruses in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and other high temperature environments worldwide. These viruses are often morphologically and genetically unique, with genomes that show little similarity to genes of known function, complicating efforts to understand their viral life cycles. Here, we review progress in understanding these fascinating viruses at the molecular level and the evolutionary insights coming from these studies.
Footnotes
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↵3 The abbreviations used are: STIV, Sulfolobus turreted icosahedral virus; STSV1, Sulfolobus tengchongensis spindle-shaped virus 1; ORFs, open reading frames; ATV, Acidianus two-tailed virus; SSV1, Sulfolobus spindle-shaped virus 1; AFV3, Acidianus filamentous virus 3; CRISPR, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat; SIRV, Sulfolobus icelandicus rod-shaped virus; PSV, Pyrobaculum spherical virus.
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↵4 S. K. Brumfield, A. C. Ortmann, P. Suci, T. Douglas, and M. J. Young, submitted for publication.
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↵5 S. Menon, B. J. Eilers, and C. M. Lawrence, unpublished data.
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↵6 A. C. Ortmann, M. Bateson, V. Ruigrok, F. F. Roberto, T. Douglas, and M. J. Young, submitted for publication.
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↵* This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grants MCB-0236344, MCB-0132156, and MCB-0646499 and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAG5-8807. This minireview will be reprinted in the 2009 Minireview Compendium, which will be available in January, 2010.
- The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
