Asfarviruses and Closely Related Giant Viruses

Sihem Hannat; Bernard La Scola; Julien Andreani; Sarah Aherfi

doi:10.3390/v15041015

Asfarviruses and Closely Related Giant Viruses

Viruses. 2023 Apr 20;15(4):1015. doi: 10.3390/v15041015.

Authors

Sihem Hannat^{1

2}, Bernard La Scola^{1

2

3}, Julien Andreani⁴, Sarah Aherfi^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, 13005 Marseille, France.
² MEPHI, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Aix-Marseille Université, 13005 Marseille, France.
³ Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM), 13005 Marseille, France.
⁴ CHU Grenoble Alpes, 27 Boulevard de la Chantourne, 38700 La Tronche, France.

Abstract

Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus, so called because of its "mimicking microbe", was discovered in 2003 and was the founding member of the first family of giant viruses isolated from amoeba. These giant viruses, present in various environments, have opened up a previously unexplored field of virology. Since 2003, many other giant viruses have been isolated, founding new families and taxonomical groups. These include a new giant virus which was isolated in 2015, the result of the first co-culture on Vermamoeba vermiformis. This new giant virus was named "Faustovirus". Its closest known relative at that time was African Swine Fever Virus. Pacmanvirus and Kaumoebavirus were subsequently discovered, exhibiting phylogenetic clustering with the two previous viruses and forming a new group with a putative common ancestor. In this study, we aimed to summarise the main features of the members of this group of giant viruses, including Abalone Asfarvirus, African Swine Fever Virus, Faustovirus, Pacmanvirus, and Kaumoebavirus.

Keywords: Asfarviridae; Faustovirus; Kaumoebavirus; Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDVs); Nucleocytoviricota; Pacmanvirus.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

African Swine Fever Virus* / genetics
Animals
DNA Viruses / genetics
Genome, Viral
Giant Viruses*
Mimiviridae* / genetics
Phylogeny
Swine
Viruses* / genetics

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the French Government under the “Investments for the Future” program managed by the National Agency for Research (ANR), Méditerranée Infection 10-IAHU-03 and was also supported by Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and European funding ERDF PRIMMI (European Regional Development Fund—Plateformes de Recherche et d’Innovation Mutualisées Méditerranée Infection).