ゲノム情報科学研究教育機構  アブストラクト
Date February 14, 2012
Speaker Dr. Hiroyuki Ogata, Aix-Marseille University, France
Title Giant viruses in marine environments
Abstract Giant viruses (or "Giruses") are ancient big viruses infecting eukaryotes. Mimivirus infecting Acanthamoeba is the prototype girus with its large 1.18 Mb-genome encoding more than 1000 genes. In marine environments, related viruses affect the dynamics of microbial communities and drive carbon and nutrient cycling by daily infecting and killing a wide range of eukaryotes from primary producers to grazers. Their genomes are as complex as those of small cells and collectively hold a huge genetic diversity with much potential for new applications in medicine and industry. Despite recognized importance, however, the biology of these big viruses is still poorly characterized. We have recently launched an environmental genome sampling project to study the diversity and ecological significance of giant viruses, as part of the global ocean microbial project, TARA-OCEANS (1). TARA-OCEANS is an international project, aiming to characterize the biodiversity and interactions of oceanic plankton - from small viruses, bacteria, protists to larger multicellular eukaryotes - and to better understand and predict marine ecosystems. In my talk, I’ll first introduce the wonder world of giant viruses by reviewing recent progress in this research field. Emphasis will be put on their relevance to marine ecosystems and their fascinating genetic diversity, along with a recent example of new DNA repair protein subfamilies found in giruses (2). I’ll then explain our sampling and analysis strategies in the TARA-OCEANS project.
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