Archaeal Viruses from High-Temperature Environments
Jacob H. Munson-McGee 1
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA
2
Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA 91768, USA
3
Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Genes 2018, 9(3), 128; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes9030128
Received: 22 January 2018 / Revised: 19 February 2018 / Accepted: 21 February 2018 / Published: 27 February 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Genomics of Extremophiles)
Archaeal viruses are some of the most enigmatic viruses known, due to the small number that have been characterized to date. The number of known archaeal viruses lags behind known bacteriophages by over an order of magnitude. Despite this, the high levels of genetic and morphological diversity that archaeal viruses display has attracted researchers for over 45 years. Extreme natural environments, such as acidic hot springs, are almost exclusively populated by Archaea and their viruses, making these attractive environments for the discovery and characterization of new viruses. The archaeal viruses from these environments have provided insights into archaeal biology, gene function, and viral evolution. This review focuses on advances from over four decades of archaeal virology, with a particular focus on archaeal viruses from high temperature environments, the existing challenges in understanding archaeal virus gene function, and approaches being taken to overcome these limitations.
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Keywords:
archaeal virology; extremophiles; environmental virology; archaeal viral genetics; archaeal viral genes
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MDPI and ACS Style
Munson-McGee, J.H.; Snyder, J.C.; Young, M.J. Archaeal Viruses from High-Temperature Environments. Genes 2018, 9, 128.
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