{"title":"Microviruses: A World Beyond <i>phi</i>X174.","authors":"Paul C Kirchberger, Howard Ochman","doi":"10.1146/annurev-virology-100120-011239","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Two decades of metagenomic analyses have revealed that in many environments, small (∼5 kb), single-stranded DNA phages of the family <i>Microviridae</i> dominate the virome. Although the emblematic microvirus <i>phi</i>X174 is ubiquitous in the laboratory, most other microviruses, particularly those of the gokushovirus and amoyvirus lineages, have proven to be much more elusive. This puzzling lack of representative isolates has hindered insights into microviral biology. Furthermore, the idiosyncratic size and nature of their genomes have resulted in considerable misjudgments of their actual abundance in nature. Fortunately, recent successes in microvirus isolation and improved metagenomic methodologies can now provide us with more accurate appraisals of their abundance, their hosts, and their interactions. The emerging picture is that <i>phi</i>X174 and its relatives are rather rare and atypical microviruses, and that a tremendous diversity of other microviruses is ready for exploration.</p>","PeriodicalId":48761,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Virology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual Review of Virology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-100120-011239","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"VIROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Two decades of metagenomic analyses have revealed that in many environments, small (∼5 kb), single-stranded DNA phages of the family Microviridae dominate the virome. Although the emblematic microvirus phiX174 is ubiquitous in the laboratory, most other microviruses, particularly those of the gokushovirus and amoyvirus lineages, have proven to be much more elusive. This puzzling lack of representative isolates has hindered insights into microviral biology. Furthermore, the idiosyncratic size and nature of their genomes have resulted in considerable misjudgments of their actual abundance in nature. Fortunately, recent successes in microvirus isolation and improved metagenomic methodologies can now provide us with more accurate appraisals of their abundance, their hosts, and their interactions. The emerging picture is that phiX174 and its relatives are rather rare and atypical microviruses, and that a tremendous diversity of other microviruses is ready for exploration.
期刊介绍:
The Annual Review of Virology serves as a conduit for disseminating thrilling advancements in our comprehension of viruses spanning animals, plants, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protozoa. Its reviews illuminate novel concepts and trajectories in basic virology, elucidating viral disease mechanisms, exploring virus-host interactions, and scrutinizing cellular and immune responses to virus infection. These reviews underscore the exceptional capacity of viruses as potent probes for investigating cellular function.