biostudies-literatureUnknown616(7958)Gaia MDNA viruses have a major influence on the ecology and evolution of cellular organisms^1-4, but their overall diversity and evolutionary trajectories remain elusive⁵. Here we carried out a phylogeny-guided genome-resolved metagenomic survey of the sunlit oceans and discovered plankton-infecting relatives of herpesviruses that form a putative new phylum dubbed Mirusviricota. The virion morphogenesis module of this large monophyletic clade is typical of viruses from the realm Duplodnaviria⁶, with multiple components strongly indicating a common ancestry with animal-infecting Herpesvirales. Yet, a substantial fraction of mirusvirus genes, including hallmark transcription machinery genes missing in herpesviruses, are closely related homologues of giant eukaryoticNature783-789https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10132985biostudies-literatureMirusviruses link herpesviruses to giant viruses.PMC10132985Ogata HForterre PFernandez-Guerra APelletier EJaillon OMeng LKrupovic MWincker PDelmont TOVanni CGaia MfalseMirusviruses link herpesviruses to giant viruses.DNA viruses have a major influence on the ecology and evolution of cellular organisms^1-4, but their overall diversity and evolutionary trajectories remain elusive⁵. Here we carried out a phylogeny-guided genome-resolved metagenomic survey of the sunlit oceans and discovered plankton-infecting relatives of herpesviruses that form a putative new phylum dubbed Mirusviricota. The virion morphogenesis module of this large monophyletic clade is typical of viruses from the realm Duplodnaviria⁶, with multiple components strongly indicating a common ancestry with animal-infecting Herpesvirales. Yet, a substantial fraction of mirusvirus genes, including hallmark transcription machinery genes missing in herpesviruses, are closely related homologues of giant eukaryotic2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Apr2025-07-10T03:08:14.101Z2025-04-04T22:11:44.284ZS-EPMC101329853707662310.1038/s41586-023-05962-4