Remarkable morphological diversity of viruses and virus-like particles in hot terrestrial environments

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2002

Publication Title

Archives of Virology

Volume

147

Issue

12

First page number:

2419

Last page number:

2429

Abstract

Electron microscopic studies of the viruses in two hot springs (85 degrees C, pH 1.5-2.0, and 75-93 degrees C, pH 6.5) in Yellowstone National Park revealed particles with twelve different morphotypes. This diversity encompassed known viruses of hyperthermophilic archaea, filamentous Lipothrixviridae, rod-shaped Rudiviridae, and spindle-shaped Fuselloviridae, and novel morphotypes previously not observed in nature. Two virus types resembled head-and-tail bacteriophages from the families Siphoviridae and Podoviridae, and constituted the first observation of these viruses in a hydrothermal environment. Viral hosts in the acidic spring were members of the hyperthermophilic archaeal genus Acidianus.

Keywords

Archaebacteria; Bacteriophages; Hot springs; Thermophilic microorganisms; United States – Yellowstone National Park; Viruses – Ecology

Disciplines

Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology | Life Sciences | Microbiology | Virology

Language

English

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