Medusavirus

Medusavirus
	3D reconstruction of the "Medusavirus" particle showcases its thousands of external spikes
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	incertae sedis
Kingdom:	incertae sedis
Phylum:	incertae sedis
Class:	incertae sedis
Order:	incertae sedis
Family:	Medusaviridae
Genus:	Medusavirus

Medusavirus is a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus first isolated from a Japanese hot spring in 2019.^[1] It notably encodes all five types of histones — H1, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 — which are involved in DNA packaging in eukaryotes, arising a possibility that they may have been involved in the origin of eukaryotes.^[1] The virus can harden amoebas of the species into stone-like cysts, but infection usually causes infected amoebas to burst open.^[2] The virus was named after Medusa, the monster in Greek mythology whose gaze turned people to stone.^[2]

References[]

^ ^a ^b Yoshikawa, Genki; Blanc-Mathieu, Romain; Song, Chihong; Kayama, Yoko; Mochizuki, Tomohiro; Murata, Kazuyoshi; Ogata, Hiroyuki; Takemura, Masaharu (2019). "Medusavirus, a novel large DNA virus discovered from hot spring water". Journal of Virology. 93 (8). doi:10.1128/JVI.02130-18. PMC 6450098. PMID 30728258.
^ ^a ^b "The giant Medusavirus turns defenceless cells to 'stone'". Nature. 566 (7745): 429. 2019. Bibcode:2019Natur.566R.429.. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00591-2. S2CID 71147268.

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[Yoshikawa-1] Yoshikawa, Genki; Blanc-Mathieu, Romain; Song, Chihong; Kayama, Yoko; Mochizuki, Tomohiro; Murata, Kazuyoshi; Ogata, Hiroyuki; Takemura, Masaharu (2019). "Medusavirus, a novel large DNA virus discovered from hot spring water". Journal of Virology. 93 (8). doi:10.1128/JVI.02130-18. PMC 6450098. PMID 30728258.

[nature-2] "The giant Medusavirus turns defenceless cells to 'stone'". Nature. 566 (7745): 429. 2019. Bibcode:2019Natur.566R.429.. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00591-2. S2CID 71147268.

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