Jean-Marie Alempic, Hugo Bisio, Alejandro Villalta, Sébastien Santini, Audrey Lartigue, Alain Schmitt, Claire Bugnot, Anna Notaro, Lucid Belmudes, Annie Adrait, Olivier Poirot, Denis Ptchelkine, Cristina De Castro, Yohann Couté, Chantal Abergel
The mimivirus 1.2 Mb genome was shown to be organized into a nucleocapsid-like genomic fiber encased in the nucleoid compartment inside the icosahedral capsid. The genomic fiber protein shell is composed of a mixture of two GMC-oxidoreductase paralogs, one of them being the main component of the glycosylated layer of fibrils at the surface of the virion. In this study, we determined the effect of the deletion of each of the corresponding genes on the genomic fiber and the layer of surface fibrils. First, we deleted the GMC-oxidoreductase, the most abundant in the genomic fiber, and determined its structure and composition in the mutant...
2024: Microlife