Mimivirus

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Mimivirus
Mimivirus with two satellite Sputnik virophages (arrows) [1]
Virus classification Edit this classification
(unranked): Virus
Realm: incertae sedis
Kingdom: incertae sedis
Phylum: incertae sedis
Class: incertae sedis
Order: incertae sedis
Family: Mimiviridae
Genus: Mimivirus
Species[source?]

Mimivirus is an extra-large virus. It was discovered in 1992.

APMV was found accidentally inside the amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga.[2] The virus was seen in a gram stain and mistakenly thought to be a gram-positive bacterium.

It is either a viral genus with a single species, Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV), or it is a group of phylogenetically-related large viruses (MimiN).[3]

In speech, APMV is usually referred to as "mimivirus". Until October 2011, when an even larger virus Megavirus chilensis was described, it was the largest (capsid diameter) of all known viruses.[4]

Mimivirus has a large and complex genome compared with most other viruses. Mimivirus, short for "mimicking microbe", is so called for its large size and Gram-staining properties.[5]

References[change | change source]

  1. Duponchel, S. and Fischer, M.G. (2019) "Viva lavidaviruses! Five features of virophages that parasitize giant DNA viruses". PLoS pathogens, 15(3). doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1007592. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  2. Richard Birtles; TJ Rowbotham; C Storey; TJ Marrie; Didier Raoult (29 Mar 1997). "Chlamydia-like obligate parasite of free-living amoebae". The Lancet. 349 (9056): 925–926. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)62701-8. PMID 9093261. S2CID 5382736.
  3. Ghedin E. & Claverie J. 2005. Mimivirus relatives in the Sargasso sea. Virology 2: 62. [1]
  4. "World's biggest virus found in sea off Chile". London: Telegraph UK. 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  5. Wessner, D R (2010). "Discovery of the giant mimivirus". Nature Education. 3 (9): 61. Retrieved 2012-01-07.