Translating the language of giants: translation-related genes as a major contribution of giant viruses to the virosphere

Rodrigues, Rodrigo Araújo Lima; Silva, Lorena Christine Ferreira da; Abrahão, Jônatas Santos

doi:10.1007/s00705-020-04626-2

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…At this time, we are unaware of any MGEs encoding functional ribosomes. However, "tupanviruses" and some "klosneuviruses" (tentative members or close relatives of the varidnaviriad family Mimiviridae) encode nearly complete translation systems, with the exception of the ribosome itself (85,101,102), and many prokaryotic viruses encode ribosomal proteins (103). Although no MGEs encoding ribosomal RNAs are currently known, it is difficult to confidently discard the possibility of discovering some MGEs that encode a complete ribosome.…”

Section: Virions Versus Ribosomes and Replication Machinerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Viruses Defined by the Position of the Virosphere within the Replicator Space

Koonin

Dolja

Krupovìč

et al. 2021

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

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Section: Virions Versus Ribosomes and Replication Machinerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Viruses Defined by the Position of the Virosphere within the Replicator Space

Koonin

Dolja

Krupovìč

et al. 2021

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

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“…Moreover, when viruses are compared with other parasites, the latter always retain some characteristics of their free-living time. The discovery of giant viruses that infect protists, and that sometimes possess genes of the protein translation machinery, triggered a resurgence of the reductive hypothesis ( Schulz et al, 2017 ; Abrahão et al, 2018 ; Rodrigues et al, 2020 ). However, it is now widely accepted that these genes have been acquired from the host ( Koonin and Yutin, 2018 ; Brahim Belhaouari et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: What Can Viruses Teach Us About the Origin Of Life?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Viruses in astrobiology

Higuera

Lázaro²

2022

Front. Microbiol.

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Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, and yet, they have not received enough consideration in astrobiology. Viruses are also extraordinarily diverse, which is evident in the types of relationships they establish with their host, their strategies to store and replicate their genetic information and the enormous diversity of genes they contain. A viral population, especially if it corresponds to a virus with an RNA genome, can contain an array of sequence variants that greatly exceeds what is present in most cell populations. The fact that viruses always need cellular resources to multiply means that they establish very close interactions with cells. Although in the short term these relationships may appear to be negative for life, it is evident that they can be beneficial in the long term. Viruses are one of the most powerful selective pressures that exist, accelerating the evolution of defense mechanisms in the cellular world. They can also exchange genetic material with the host during the infection process, providing organisms with capacities that favor the colonization of new ecological niches or confer an advantage over competitors, just to cite a few examples. In addition, viruses have a relevant participation in the biogeochemical cycles of our planet, contributing to the recycling of the matter necessary for the maintenance of life. Therefore, although viruses have traditionally been excluded from the tree of life, the structure of this tree is largely the result of the interactions that have been established throughout the intertwined history of the cellular and the viral worlds. We do not know how other possible biospheres outside our planet could be, but it is clear that viruses play an essential role in the terrestrial one. Therefore, they must be taken into account both to improve our understanding of life that we know, and to understand other possible lives that might exist in the cosmos.

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“…Our planet is inhabited by viruses, and many of them are pathogens of eukaryotes. Despite the fact that viral genomes can be larger in size and complexity than those of some primitive bacteria, as of now there is not a single case when they would contain a complete set of genes necessary for protein biosynthesis [ 1 ]. This makes viruses almost completely dependent on the cellular translational apparatus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Canonical Translation Initiation Mechanisms Employed by Eukaryotic Viral mRNAs

Sorokin

Vassilenko

Terenin

et al. 2021

Biochemistry Moscow

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Viruses exploit the translation machinery of an infected cell to synthesize their proteins. Therefore, viral mRNAs have to compete for ribosomes and translation factors with cellular mRNAs. To succeed, eukaryotic viruses adopt multiple strategies. One is to circumvent the need for m 7 G-cap through alternative instruments for ribosome recruitment. These include internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs), which make translation independent of the free 5′ end, or cap-independent translational enhancers (CITEs), which promote initiation at the uncapped 5′ end, even if located in 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs). Even if a virus uses the canonical cap-dependent ribosome recruitment, it can still perturb conventional ribosomal scanning and start codon selection. The pressure for genome compression often gives rise to internal and overlapping open reading frames. Their translation is initiated through specific mechanisms, such as leaky scanning, 43S sliding, shunting, or coupled termination-reinitiation. Deviations from the canonical initiation reduce the dependence of viral mRNAs on translation initiation factors, thereby providing resistance to antiviral mechanisms and cellular stress responses. Moreover, viruses can gain advantage in a competition for the translational machinery by inactivating individual translational factors and/or replacing them with viral counterparts. Certain viruses even create specialized intracellular “translation factories”, which spatially isolate the sites of their protein synthesis from cellular antiviral systems, and increase availability of translational components. However, these virus-specific mechanisms may become the Achilles’ heel of a viral life cycle. Thus, better understanding of the unconventional mechanisms of viral mRNA translation initiation provides valuable insight for developing new approaches to antiviral therapy.

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Translating the language of giants: translation-related genes as a major contribution of giant viruses to the virosphere

Cited by 8 publications

References 78 publications

Viruses Defined by the Position of the Virosphere within the Replicator Space

Viruses Defined by the Position of the Virosphere within the Replicator Space

Viruses in astrobiology

Non-Canonical Translation Initiation Mechanisms Employed by Eukaryotic Viral mRNAs

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