''Klosneuvirus'' (KNV, also KloV) is a new type of

giant virus A giant virus, sometimes referred to as a girus, is a very large virus, some of which are larger than typical bacteria. All known giant viruses belong to the phylum '' Nucleocytoviricota''. Description While the exact criteria as defined in the ...

found by the analysis of low-complexity

metagenome Metagenomics is the study of genetic material recovered directly from environmental or clinical samples by a method called sequencing. The broad field may also be referred to as environmental genomics, ecogenomics, community genomics or microb ...

s from a wastewater treatment plant in

Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg (; frequently abbreviated as Kloburg by locals) is a town in Tulln District in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has a population of about 27,500. The Klosterneuburg Monastery, which was established in 1114 and soon after gi ...

, Austria. It has a 1.57-Mb

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

coding unusually high number of

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s typically found in cellular organisms, including aminoacyl transfer RNA synthetases with specificities for 19 different amino acids, over 10 translation factors and several

tRNA Transfer RNA (abbreviated tRNA and formerly referred to as sRNA, for soluble RNA) is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 76 to 90 nucleotides in length (in eukaryotes), that serves as the physical link between the mRNA and the amino ac ...

-modifying enzymes. ''Klosneuvirus'', ''

Indivirus ''Indivirus'' (IndV) is a genus of giant double-stranded DNA-containing viruses (NCLDV). This genus was detected during the analysis of metagenome samples of bottom sediments of reservoirs at the wastewater treatment plant in Klosterneuburg, Aust ...

'', ''

Catovirus ''Catovirus'' (CatV) is a genus of giant double-stranded DNA-containing viruses (nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses). This genus was detected during the analysis of metagenome samples of bottom sediments of reservoirs at the wastewater treatment ...

'' and ''

Hokovirus ''Hokovirus'' (HokV) is a genus of giant double-stranded DNA-containing viruses (NCLDV). This genus was detected during the analysis of metagenome samples of bottom sediments of reservoirs at the wastewater treatment plant in Klosterneuburg, Aus ...

'', are part of a group of giant viruses denoted as Klosneuviruses or '' Klosneuvirinae'', a proposed subfamily of the ''

Mimiviridae ''Mimiviridae'' is a family of viruses. Amoeba and other protists serve as natural hosts. The family is divided in up to 4 subfamilies., UCPMS ID: 1889607PDF/ref> Fig. 4 and §Discussion: "Considering that tupanviruses comprise a sister gr ...

''. Species in this clade include ''

Bodo saltans virus The Bodo saltans virus is a giant virus of the ''Mimiviridae'' family that infects the protozoa ''Bodo saltans''. It has a genome of 1.39 megabases A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleo ...

'' infecting the kinetoplastid ''

Bodo saltans ''Bodo saltans'' (alternatively known as ''Pleuromonas jaculans'') is a free-living nonparasitic species of kinetoplastid flagellated phagotrophic protozoa that feed on bacteria. ''Bodo saltans'' cells have been reported in freshwater and marine e ...

''. Phylogenetic tree topology of ''Mimiviridae'' is still under discussion. As Klosneuviruses are related to ''

Mimivirus ''Mimivirus'' is a genus of giant viruses, in the family ''Mimiviridae''. Amoeba serve as their natural hosts. This genus contains a single identified species named ''Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus'' (APMV). It also refers to a group of phylo ...

'', it was proposed to put them all together into a subfamily ''Megavirinae''. Other authors (CNS 2018) like to put Klosneuviruses just together with '' Cafeteria roenbergensis virus'' (CroV) and ''

'' (BsV) into a tentative subfamily called ''Aquavirinae''.Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNS)
List of the main “giant” viruses known as of today
Université Aix Marseille, 18. April 2018

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q29221177 Virus genera Unaccepted virus taxa

See also

References