Sulfolobus-Turreted-Icosahedral-Virus

The Sulfolobus turreted - Icosahedral Virus ( STIV ) is an enveloped virus with circular, double-stranded DNA genome. Its host range includes archaea of the genus Sulfolobus.

The STIV was isolated in 2004 in an acidic hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. The temperature of this source is 72 to 92 ° C at a pH of 2-4.

The STIV1 forms with STIV2 and the SH1 virus family. It also possesses homology to adenovirus, bacteriophage PRD1 and the Paramecium Bursaria Chlorella virus ( PBCV ). This suggests a common origin of these virus families, although hosts are infected from three different kingdoms of living things.

Virion

The virion has an icosahedral capsid of STIV1 with a Triangulationszahl of 31 at the twelve positions with five -fold symmetry occur, the eponymous, turret -like Peplomere forth with a height of 13 nm and a diameter of 24 nm. Inside is a presumably closed with a lid ion channel of about 3 nm in diameter.

The virion exits the cell by budding from the cell membrane to form a unique pyramidal structure.

Genome

The genome of the STIV1 consists of circular DNA of about 17663 base pairs with the 36 open reading frames, and a GC content of 36%. From about 17 proteins are expressed.