The Kaumoebavirus LCC10 Genome Reveals a Unique Gene Strand Bias among “Extended Asfarviridae”
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MEPHI, APHM, IRD 198, Aix Marseille Université, Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, 13005 Marseille, France
2
Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Thomas Stamminger
Viruses 2021, 13(2), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020148
Received: 23 November 2020
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Revised: 13 January 2021
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Accepted: 15 January 2021
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Published: 20 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Viruses of Plants, Fungi and Protozoa)
Kaumoebavirus infects the amoeba Vermamoeba vermiformis and has recently been described as a distant relative of the African swine fever virus. To characterize the diversity and evolution of this novel viral genus, we report here on the isolation and genome sequencing of a second strain of Kaumoebavirus, namely LCC10. Detailed analysis of the sequencing data suggested that its 362-Kb genome is linear with covalently closed hairpin termini, so that DNA forms a single continuous polynucleotide chain. Comparative genomic analysis indicated that although the two sequenced Kaumoebavirus strains share extensive gene collinearity, 180 predicted genes were either gained or lost in only one genome. As already observed in another distant relative, i.e., Faustovirus, which infects the same host, the center and extremities of the Kaumoebavirus genome exhibited a higher rate of sequence divergence and the major capsid protein gene was colonized by type-I introns. A possible role of the Vermamoeba host in the genesis of these evolutionary traits is hypothesized. The Kaumoebavirus genome exhibited a significant gene strand bias over the two-third of genome length, a feature not seen in the other members of the “extended Asfarviridae” clade. We suggest that this gene strand bias was induced by a putative single origin of DNA replication located near the genome extremity that imparted a selective force favoring the genes positioned on the leading strand.
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Keywords:
Kaumoebavirus; nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA virus; Nucleocytoviricota; extended Asfarviridae; Vermamoeba vermiformis; gene strand bias
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MDPI and ACS Style
Geballa-Koukoulas, K.; Andreani, J.; La Scola, B.; Blanc, G. The Kaumoebavirus LCC10 Genome Reveals a Unique Gene Strand Bias among “Extended Asfarviridae”. Viruses 2021, 13, 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020148
AMA Style
Geballa-Koukoulas K, Andreani J, La Scola B, Blanc G. The Kaumoebavirus LCC10 Genome Reveals a Unique Gene Strand Bias among “Extended Asfarviridae”. Viruses. 2021; 13(2):148. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020148
Chicago/Turabian StyleGeballa-Koukoulas, Khalil, Julien Andreani, Bernard La Scola, and Guillaume Blanc. 2021. "The Kaumoebavirus LCC10 Genome Reveals a Unique Gene Strand Bias among “Extended Asfarviridae”" Viruses 13, no. 2: 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020148
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