Phycodnaviridae

The term Phycodnaviruses viruses of the family Phyvodnaviridae be called. There are large double-stranded DNA viruses with a genome of 160-560 Kb infecting marine and freshwater algae and belong to a group of large viruses, known as Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses ( NCLDV ).

Structure and propagation

Phycodnaviruses have an icosahedral shape, an internal lipid bilayer, and they multiply in the cytoplasm of the host cell.

Molecular biological features

Recent studies of the Phycodnavirus genomes have these viruses found sophisticated mechanisms of the viral DNA replication and transcription processes, discovered a new type of potassium channel genes have been found that are involved in the apoptosis of the host cell, and complex signal paths Transkritpionsmechanismen and genes for the glycosylation of viral proteins detected. Phycodnaviren all have genes coding for DNA polymerases. However, it is not yet clear whether Phycodnaviren can produce a complete replication complex. They probably need the support of the host cell for replication.