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
Repository Citation
Rachel, R.,
Bettstetter, M.,
Hedlund, B. P.,
Haring, M.,
Kessler, A.,
Stetter, K. O.,
Prangishvili, D.
(2002).
Remarkable morphological diversity of viruses and virus-like particles in hot terrestrial environments.
Archives of Virology, 147(12),
2419-2429.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00705-002-0895-2
