Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), Aix Marseille Université, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire (IHU) Méditerranée Infection, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM), 13005 Marseille, France; email:
Annu Rev Virol. 2017 Sep 29;4(1):61-85. doi: 10.1146/annurev-virology-101416-041816. Epub 2017 Jul 31.
Giant viruses of amoebae were discovered serendipitously in 2003; they are visible via optical microscopy, making them bona fide microbes. Their lifestyle, structure, and genomes break the mold of classical viruses. Giant viruses of amoebae are complex microorganisms. Their genomes harbor between 444 and 2,544 genes, including many that are unique to viruses, and encode translation components; their virions contain >100 proteins as well as mRNAs. Mimiviruses have a specific mobilome, including virophages, provirophages, and transpovirons, and can resist virophages through a system known as MIMIVIRE (mimivirus virophage resistance element). Giant viruses of amoebae bring upheaval to the definition of viruses and tend to separate the current virosphere into two categories: very simple viruses and viruses with complexity similar to that of other microbes. This new paradigm is propitious for enhanced detection and characterization of giant viruses of amoebae, and a particular focus on their role in humans is warranted.
2003 年，偶然间发现了变形虫巨型病毒；它们可通过光学显微镜观察到，因此是名副其实的微生物。它们的生活方式、结构和基因组打破了经典病毒的模式。变形虫巨型病毒是复杂的微生物。它们的基因组拥有 444 到 2544 个基因，其中包括许多病毒特有的基因，并编码翻译成分；它们的病毒粒子含有超过 100 种蛋白质和 mRNA。拟病毒具有特定的移动元件，包括噬病毒体、前噬病毒体和转座元件，并且可以通过一种称为 MIMIVIRE（巨病毒噬病毒体抗性元件）的系统来抵抗噬病毒体。变形虫巨型病毒对病毒的定义提出了挑战，它们倾向于将当前的病毒圈分为两类：非常简单的病毒和具有与其他微生物相似复杂性的病毒。这种新的范例有利于增强对变形虫巨型病毒的检测和特征描述，特别值得关注它们在人类中的作用。
