''Phikmvvirus'' is a genus of

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's ...

that infect bacteria. There are currently 16 species in this genus including the type species '' Pseudomonas virus phiKMV''. Bacteriophage phiKMV and its relatives are known to be highly

virulent Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host. In most, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to ...

phages, producing large ( diameter) clear plaques on a susceptible host. The only reported exception is phage LKA1, which yields small plaques () surrounded by a halo. While all other ''P. aeruginosa''-specific phikmvviruses use the

Type IV pili A pilus (Latin for 'hair'; plural: ''pili'') is a hair-like appendage found on the surface of many bacteria and archaea. The terms ''pilus'' and '' fimbria'' (Latin for 'fringe'; plural: ''fimbriae'') can be used interchangeably, although some r ...

as primary receptor, LKA1 particles attach to the bacterial

lipopolysaccharide Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are large molecules consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide that are bacterial toxins. They are composed of an O-antigen, an outer core, and an inner core all joined by a covalent bond, and are found in the outer ...

layer.

Taxonomy

Virology

Electron microscopic imaging of purified phage particles revealed these phages as typical members of the ''

Podoviridae ''Podoviridae'' is a family of bacteriophage in the order ''Caudovirales'' often associated with T-7 like phages. There are 130 species in this family, assigned to 3 subfamilies and 52 genera. This family is characterized by having very short, n ...

'', with a head diameter of approximately and a stubby tail with a length of 8–10 nm. Although phiKMV phage resembles the well-studied podovirus T7 in overall

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 g ...

architecture, it was the first known T7-like phage which encoded a single-subunit RNA polymerase

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 b ...

downstream its DNA metabolism genes instead of in the early genomic region. Based on these properties, the genus ''Phikmvvirus'' is classified within the ''

Autographiviridae ''Autographiviridae'' is a family of viruses in the order ''Caudovirales''. Bacteria serve as natural hosts. There are 373 species in this family, assigned to 9 subfamilies and 133 genera. History Since the 1990s, the term "T7 supergroup" has be ...

''.

Life cycle

Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by absorption into the host cell. DNA-templated transcription is the method of transcription. The virus exits the host cell by lysis, and holin/endolysin/spanin proteins. Bacteria serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are passive diffusion.

References

External links

Viralzone: Phikmvlikevirus

ICTV
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Caudovirales Virus genera