Genomic analysis of <i>Ostreococcus tauri</i>-infecting viruses reveals a hypervariable region associated with host-virus interactions.

ABSTRACT: While the genus Prasinovirus, known to infect prasinophyte green algae (class Mamiellophyceae), is abundant in the oceans, the genetic mechanisms governing the ecology and (co)evolution of these viruses remain poorly understood. In this study, we sequenced the complete genomes of eighteen viruses infecting the cosmopolitan unicellular green alga Ostreococcus tauri (OtVs) and one specific to Micromonas commoda (McV-20 T). Of these viruses, 12 were previously isolated from the coastal Mediterranean Sea and seven were newly isolated from two different geographical locations (i.e. the South Pacific Ocean and the North Sea). Phylogenetic analysis classified these viruses as new members of the Prasinovirus genus and defined three distinct OtV clades: designated OtV-ty

SUBMITTER: Thomy J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12906663 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature