DOI: 10.1126/science.1101485. The 1.2-Megabase Genome Sequence of Mimivirus

The 1.2-Megabase Genome Sequence of Mimivirus

10.1126/science.1101485

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

We recently reported the discovery and preliminary characterization of Mimivirus, the largest known virus, with a 400-nanometer particle size comparable to mycoplasma. Mimivirus is a double-stranded DNA virus growing in amoebae. We now present its 1,181,404–base pair genome sequence, consisting of 1262 putative open reading frames, 10% of which exhibit a similarity to proteins of known functions. In addition to exceptional genome size, Mimivirus exhibits many features that distinguish it from other nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses. The most unexpected is the presence of numerous genes encoding central protein-translation components, including four amino-acyl transfer RNA synthetases, peptide release factor 1, translation elongation factor EF-TU, and translation initiation factor 1. The genome also exhibits six tRNAs. Other notable features include the presence of both type I and type II topoisomerases, components of all DNA repair pathways, many polysaccharide synthesis enzymes, and one intein-containing gene. The size and complexity of the Mimivirus genome challenge the established frontier between viruses and parasitic cellular organisms. This new sequence data might help shed a new light on the origin of DNA viruses and their role in the early evolution of eukaryotes.

Bibliography

Raoult, D., Audic, S., Robert, C., Abergel, C., Renesto, P., Ogata, H., La Scola, B., Suzan, M., & Claverie, J.-M. (2004). The 1.2-Megabase Genome Sequence of Mimivirus. Science, 306(5700), 1344â1350.

Authors 9

Didier Raoult (first)
Stéphane Audic (additional)
Catherine Robert (additional)
Chantal Abergel (additional)
Patricia Renesto (additional)
Hiroyuki Ogata (additional)
Bernard La Scola (additional)
Marie Suzan (additional)
Jean-Michel Claverie (additional)

References 38 Referenced 870

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We thank C. Fraisier A. Honstettre V. Arondel N. Aldrovandi S. Chenivesse and D. Moinier for technical help; and M. Drancourt and K. Suhre for helpful discussions. We acknowledge funding from Marseille-Nice Genopole. The IGS laboratory is partially supported by Aventis Pharma. The Mimivirus genome sequence has been deposited to GenBank under accession number AY653733. Additional data are accessible at www.giantvirus.org.

Dates

Type	When
Created	20 years, 10 months ago (Oct. 14, 2004, 8:33 p.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 11:47 p.m.)
Indexed	4 days, 1 hour ago (Aug. 31, 2025, 7:23 p.m.)
Issued	20 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 19, 2004)
Published	20 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 19, 2004)
Published Print	20 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 19, 2004)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Raoult_2004, title={The 1.2-Megabase Genome Sequence of Mimivirus}, volume={306}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1101485}, DOI={10.1126/science.1101485}, number={5700}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Raoult, Didier and Audic, Stéphane and Robert, Catherine and Abergel, Chantal and Renesto, Patricia and Ogata, Hiroyuki and La Scola, Bernard and Suzan, Marie and Claverie, Jean-Michel}, year={2004}, month=nov, pages={1344–1350} }

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