Persistent mirusvirus infection in the marine protist Aurantiochytrium

Mirusviruses are abundant and broadly distributed double-stranded (ds) DNA viruses recently discovered in marine metagenomic data. Their host range and ecological impact are unclear. The protist Aurantiochytrium limacinum possesses two mirusvirus-like genomic elements, one a circular episome (AurliV-1) and the other (AurliV-2) a chromosomal integrant. Here we show that genes in both genomes are expressed and viral particles containing mainly AurliV-1 DNA are produced under starvation conditions and when cells are cultured in standard growth medium. We detected viral particles of ~140 nm in the nucleus, in cytoplasmic vesicles, between the plasma membrane and cell wall, and in the extracellular environment. Of 67 AurliV-1-encoded proteins detected using proteomics, 45 are enriched under starvation conditions, including the structurally important major capsid and triplex proteins. Our results establish Aurantiochytrium as a model system for elucidating mirusvirus-host interactions and demonstrate persistent viral infection in a microbial eukaryote.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-11-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65172-6
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.30

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article

Persistent mirusvirus infection in the marine protist Aurantiochytrium

Jessica Latimer, Brett A. Duguay, Jackie L. Collier, Dudley Chung et al.
6 citations
Nature Communications
Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
10.30
article

Persistent mirusvirus infection in the marine protist Aurantiochytrium

Jessica Latimer, Brett A. Duguay, Jackie L. Collier, Dudley Chung, Joshua S. Rest, Eric S. Pringle, Cédric Blais, Lucie Gallot-Lavallée, John M. Archibald, Claudio H. Slamovits, Craig McCormick, Ronie Haro, Ben Leyland, Sari Matar, Nikolaj Brask
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Mirusviruses are abundant and broadly distributed double-stranded (ds) DNA viruses recently discovered in marine metagenomic data. Their host range and ecological impact are unclear. The protist Aurantiochytrium limacinum possesses two mirusvirus-like genomic elements, one a circular episome (AurliV-1) and the other (AurliV-2) a chromosomal integrant. Here we show that genes in both genomes are expressed and viral particles containing mainly AurliV-1 DNA are produced under starvation conditions and when cells are cultured in standard growth medium. We detected viral particles of ~140 nm in the nucleus, in cytoplasmic vesicles, between the plasma membrane and cell wall, and in the extracellular environment. Of 67 AurliV-1-encoded proteins detected using proteomics, 45 are enriched under starvation conditions, including the structurally important major capsid and triplex proteins. Our results establish Aurantiochytrium as a model system for elucidating mirusvirus-host interactions and demonstrate persistent viral infection in a microbial eukaryote.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Dalhousie University (CA), Stony Brook University (US)
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Dalhousie University, Stony Brook University, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
10.30
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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