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Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes: A Functional Genomics Tool for the Study of Positive-strand RNA Viruses
Published on: December 29, 2015
Complete genome sequence and lytic phase transcription profile of a Coccolithovirus
William H Wilson1, Declan C Schroeder, Michael J Allen
1Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK. whw@pml.ac.uk
Abstract:
The genus Coccolithovirus is a recently discovered group of viruses that infect the globally important marine calcifying microalga Emiliania huxleyi. Among the 472 predicted genes of the 407,339-base pair genome are a variety of unexpected genes, most notably those involved in biosynthesis of ceramide, a sphingolipid known to induce apoptosis. Uniquely for algal viruses, it also contains six RNA polymerase subunits and a novel promoter, suggesting this virus encodes its own transcription machinery. Microarray transcriptomic analysis reveals that 65% of the predicted virus-encoded genes are expressed during lytic infection of E. huxleyi.
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