''Dinodnavirus'' is a genus of viruses that infect dinoflagellates.
[Tarutani K, Nagasaki K, Itakura S, Yamaguchi M (2001) Isolation of a virus infecting the novel shellfish-killing dinoflagellate ''Heterocapsa circularisquama''. Aquat Microb Ecol 23:103–111] This genus belongs to the clade of
nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus
''Nucleocytoviricota'' is a phylum of viruses. Members of the phylum are also known as the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV), which serves as the basis of the name of the phylum with the suffix - for virus phylum. These viruses are refe ...
es. The name is derived from 'dino' (dinoflagellate) and DNA (from its genome).
The only species in the genus is ''Heterocapsa circularisquama DNA virus 01''.
__TOC__
Virology
The virus has an icosahedral capsid ~200 nanometers in diameter.
The genome is a single molecule of double stranded DNA of a ~356-kilobases.
It infects the dinoflagellate ''
Heterocapsa circularisquama
''Heterocapsa circularisquama'' is a species of dinoflagellates notable for the production of a biotoxin affecting marine fauna. It is known to produce large red tides off western Japan, causing high bivalve mortality, particularly pearl oysters ...
''.
During replication virions emerge from a specific cytoplasm compartment – the 'viroplasm' – which is created by the virus.
[Nagasaki K, Tomaru Y, Tarutani K, Katanozaka N, Yamanaka S, Tanabe H, Yamaguchi M (2003) Growth characteristics and intraspecies host specificity of a large virus infecting the dinoflagellate ''Heterocapsa circularisquama''. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:2580–2586]
Taxonomy
The sole species was originally thought to belong to the family ''
Phycodnaviridae
''Phycodnaviridae'' is a family of large (100–560 kb) double-stranded DNA viruses that infect marine or freshwater eukaryotic algae. Viruses within this family have a similar morphology, with an icosahedral capsid (polyhedron with 20 fac ...
''. DNA studies have shown that it belongs in the family ''
Asfarviridae''.
[Ogata H, Toyoda K, Tomaru Y, Nakayama N, Shirai Y, Claverie JM, Nagasaki K (2009) Remarkable sequence similarity between the dinoflagellate-infecting marine girus and the terrestrial pathogen African swine fever virus. Virol J 6:178]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1226669
Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses
Virus genera