Tiny Giants, Hidden Genes: Genomic Innovation in Nucleocytoviricota

Dear Colleagues,

For decades, giant DNA viruses now classified within the phylum Nucleocytoviricota were almost absent from mainstream virology, as their unusually large particles were literally filtered out from standard virus isolation and environmental sampling protocols optimized for small virions. With the advent of alternative sampling, sequencing, and imaging strategies, these “tiny giants” have revealed unexpected diversity, genomic complexity, and evolutionary impacts. A hallmark of Nucleocytoviricota genomes is the pervasive presence of genes with no clear homologs in cellular organisms or other viral lineages—the so-called viral genetic dark matter. These enigmatic genes, together with unconventional gene repertoires and elaborate metabolic capabilities, challenge traditional views of virus evolution and blur long-standing boundaries between viral and cellular worlds.

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions that feature the use of genomic, evolutionary, and functional approaches to illuminate this genetic dark matter and to understand how it shapes the biology of Nucleocytoviricota members. We particularly encourage submissions that address these questions using experimental and computational strategies.

Dr. Paulo Victor de Miranda Boratto
Dr. Talita Melo Hanchuk
Guest Editors

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