Structural studies demonstrating a bacteriophage-like replication cycle of the eukaryote-infecting Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus-1.

ABSTRACT: A fundamental stage in viral infection is the internalization of viral genomes in host cells. Although extensively studied, the mechanisms and factors responsible for the genome internalization process remain poorly understood. Here we report our observations, derived from diverse imaging methods on genome internalization of the large dsDNA Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus-1 (PBCV-1). Our studies reveal that early infection stages of this eukaryotic-infecting virus occurs by a bacteriophage-like pathway, whereby PBCV-1 generates a hole in the host cell wall and ejects its dsDNA genome in a linear, base-pair-by-base-pair process, through a membrane tunnel generated by the fusion of the virus internal membrane with the host membrane. Furthermore, our results imply that PBCV-1 DNA condensa

SUBMITTER: Milrot E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5593192 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature