Virophage

As Virophagen (singular: virophage that, from the Latin virus, -i, n "poison, juice, mucus " and ancient Greek φαγεῖν phagein, "eat" ) refers to a group of viruses that the use of genes of other viruses (so-called "Mama viruses " ) are instructed during the joint infection of a host cell. In this case, the gene products of other virus can be used, which would otherwise only allow in eukaryotic cells, the protein synthesis. In this respect, Virophagen not multiply "in" other viruses, but with the synthesis apparatus of the other virus and thereby occur in a competition to them. The proposed designation of the Erstbeschreibern " virophage " ( " virus - eater ") is therefore misleading and is currently being discussed in virology.

The first virophage called " Sputnik " was discovered by Bernard La Scola and Didier Raoult of the Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille in the tubes of the cooling water system in Paris in 2008.