AI Article Synopsis
- Giant viruses have large particles and genomes, raising questions about how these genomes evolved.
- The discovery of cedratvirus pambiensis features the largest genome identified in its category, linked to a high number of duplicated genes.
- This study reveals that gene duplication is a significant evolutionary mechanism contributing to genome expansion in giant viruses, highlighting its importance alongside its known role in cellular organisms.
Article Abstract
Giant viruses are noteworthy not only due to their enormous particles but also because of their gigantic genomes. In this context, a fundamental question has persisted: how did these genomes evolve? Here we present the discovery of cedratvirus pambiensis, featuring the largest genome ever described for a cedratvirus. Our data suggest that the larger size of the genome can be attributed to an unprecedented number of duplicated genes. Further investigation of this phenomenon in other viruses has illuminated gene duplication as a key evolutionary mechanism driving genome expansion in diverse giant viruses. Although gene duplication has been described as a recurrent event in cellular organisms, our data highlights its potential as a pivotal event in the evolution of gigantic viral genomes.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10734413 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01309-23 | DOI Listing |
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