Many large DNA viruses that infect certain isolates of chlorella-like green algae (chloroviruses) are unusual because they often encode a diverse set of membrane transport proteins, including functional K(+) channels and aquaglyceroporins as well as K(+) transporters and calcium transporting ATPases. Some chloroviruses also encode putative ligand-gated-like channel proteins. No one protein is present in all of the chloroviruses that have been sequenced, but the K(+) channel is the most common as only two chloroviruses have been isolated that lack this complete protein. This review describes the properties of these membrane-transporting proteins and suggests possible physiological functions and evolutionary histories for some of them.
Keywords: Algal viruses; Chloroviruses; Giant viruses; Ion channels; Ion transporters.
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