Related papers: Mimivirus and the emerging concept of "giant" viru…
The discovery and genome analysis of Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus, the largest known DNA virus, challenged much of the accepted dogma regarding viruses. Its particle size (>400 nm), genome length (1.2 million bp) and huge gene…
Giant double-stranded DNA viruses (such as record breaking Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus), with particle sizes of 0.2 to 0.6 micron, genomes of 300 kbp to 1.200 kbp, and commensurate complex gene contents, constitute an evolutionary…
Gene duplication is key to molecular evolution in all three domains of life and may be the first step in the emergence of new gene function. It is a well recognized feature in large DNA viruses, but has not been studied extensively in the…
The initial analysis of the recently sequenced genome of Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus, the largest known double-stranded DNA virus, predicted a proteome of size and complexity more akin to small parasitic bacteria than to other…
Giant viruses contain large genomes, encode many proteins atypical for viruses, replicate in large viral factories, and tend to infect protists. The giant virus replication factories can in turn be infected by so called virophages, which…
Reputed intractable, the question of the origin of viruses has long been neglected. In the modern literature 'Virus evolution' has come to refer to study more akin to population genetics, such as the world-wide scrutiny on new polymorphisms…
The first giant virus was identified in 2003 from a biofilm of an industrial water-cooling tower in England. Later, numerous new giant viruses were found in oceans and freshwater habitats, some of them having even 2,500 genes. We have…
DNA replication is a process which is common to all domains of life yet different replication mechanisms are seen among different organisms. The mechanism of replication on such a structure is not yet understood. With this bigger picture in…
Mitochondrial genomes in the Pinaceae family are notable for their large size and structural complexity. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the mitochondrial genome of Cathaya argyrophylla, an endangered and endemic Pinaceae species,…
Motivation: Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) are notable for their large genomes and extensive gene repertoires, which contribute to their widespread environmental presence and critical roles in processes such as host metabolic…
Although an exchange of genetic information by recombination plays an important role in the evolution of viruses, it is not clear how it generates diversity. {\it Geminiviruses} are plant viruses which have ambisense single-stranded…
Viruses are submicroscopic agents that can infect all kinds of lifeforms and use their hosts' living cells to replicate themselves. Despite having some of the simplest genetic structures among all living beings, viruses are highly…
With different genomes available, unsupervised learning algorithms are essential in learning genome-wide biological insights. Especially, the functional characterization of different genomes is essential for us to understand lives. In this…
Engineering the entire genome of an organism enables large-scale changes in organization, function, and external interactions, with significant implications for industry, medicine, and the environment. Improvements to DNA synthesis and…
Salamanders (urodela) have among the largest vertebrate genomes, ranging in size from 10 to over 80 pg. The urodela are divided into ten extant families each with a characteristic range in genome size. Although changes in genome size often…
In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic data explosion in genomics, thanks to the improvement in sequencing technologies and the drastically decreasing costs. We are entering the era of millions of available genomes. Notably, each…
Statistical analysis of distributions of occurrence frequencies of short words in 108 microbial complete genomes reveals the existence of a set of universal "root-sequence lengths" shared by all microbial genomes. These lengths and their…
DNA microarrays are a relatively new technology that can simultaneously measure the expression level of thousands of genes. They have become an important tool for a wide variety of biological experiments. One of the most common goals of DNA…
Understanding how molecular changes caused by genetic variation drive disease risk is crucial for deciphering disease mechanisms. However, interpreting genome sequences is challenging because of the vast size of the human genome, and…
Modern DNA sequencing technologies enable geneticists to rapidly identify genetic variation among many human genomes. However, isolating the minority of variants underlying disease remains an important, yet formidable challenge for medical…