Independent virus development outside a host: Virology

• Published in: Nature (London) 2005-08, Vol.436 (7054), p.1101-1102
• Main Authors: Häring, Monika, Vestergaard, Gisle, Rachel, Reinhard, Chen, Lanming, Garrett, Roger A., Prangishvili, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: brief-communication; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/4361101a

Growing two long filamentous tails may help an archaeal virus to survive in a hostile environment. Lemon aid? It's a fact: viruses are inactive once outside the host cell. But wait, a newly discovered virus that infects cells of a hyperthermophilic archaeon has other ideas. The lemon-shaped virus can grow a long tail at each of its pointed ends on release from its host cell. This may be a strategy for survival in an unusually harsh environment — hot acid springs — where hosts are scarce. Viruses are thought to be functionally inactive once they are outside and independent of their host cell 1 . Here we describe an exceptional property of a newly discovered virus that infects a hyperthermophilic archaeon growing in acidic hot springs: the lemon-shaped viral particle develops a very long tail at each of its pointed ends after being released from its host cell. The process occurs only at the temperature of the host's habitat (75–90 °C) and it does not require the presence of the host cell, an exogenous energy source or any cofactors. This host-independent morphological development may be a strategy for viral survival in an environment that is unusually harsh and has limited host availability.