Sponsor
Publication costs for the Manual of Aquatic Viral Ecology were provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. This document is based on work partially supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to the Scientific Committee for Oceanographic Research under Grant OCE-0608600. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The authors would like to thank D. Prangishvili for his insights and vast knowledge of the isolation of viruses of extremely thermophilic Archaea. KS would like to thank D. Grogan for the suggestion of PEG 400 as a bath liquid. The authors would also like to thank an anonymous reviewer whose suggestions greatly improved the manuscript. Research in the Stedman lab is supported by NSF (MCB: 0702020) and NASA (NNX07AJ26G and NNX07AT63A). MDS is grateful to D. Oesterhelt, and the Department of Membrane Biochemistry, MPI, for their continuing support.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Subjects
Hyperthermophilic organisms, Capsid proteins, Viruses -- Purification, Protein precursors, Archaebacteria -- Viruses
Abstract
A mere 50 viruses of Archaea have been reported to date; these have been investigated mostly by adapting methods used to isolate bacteriophages to the unique growth conditions of their archaeal hosts. The most numerous are viruses of thermophilic Archaea. These viruses have been discovered by screening enrichment cultures and novel isolates from environmental samples for their ability to form halos of growth inhibition, or by using electron microscopy to screen enrichment cultures for virus-like particles. Direct isolation without enrichment has not yet been successful for viruses of extreme thermophiles. On the other hand, most viruses of extreme halophiles, the second most numerous archaeal viruses, have been isolated directly from hypersaline environments. Detailed methods for the isolation of viruses of extremely thermoacidophilic Archaea and extremely halophilic Archaea are presented in this manuscript. These methods have been extremely effective in isolating novel viruses. However, Archaea comprise much more than extreme thermoacidophiles and extreme halophiles. Therefore a vast pool of archaeal viruses remain to be discovered, isolated, and characterized, particularly among the methanogens and marine Archaea. Some suggestions for expansion of the described methods are discussed. We hope these suggestions will provide an impetus for future work on these and other Archaeal viruses.
Rights
Copyright 2010, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/10146
Citation Details
Stedman, Kenneth M., Kate Porter, and Mike L. Dyall-Smith. "The isolation of viruses infecting Archaea." Manual of aquatic viral ecology. American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) (2010): 57-64.
Description
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