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Www.Boingboing.Net - A tinsy little virus called "Sputnik" with only 21 genes preys on larger, more developed viruses, infecting them and hijacking their resources to reproduce and spread: With just 21 genes, Sputnik is tiny compared with its mama ? but insidious. When the giant mamavirus infects an amoeba, it uses its large array of genes to build a ?viral factory?, a hub where new viral particles are made. Sputnik infects this viral factory and seems to hijack its machinery in order to replicate. The team found that cells co-infected with Sputnik produce fewer and often deformed mamavirus particles, making the virus less infective. This suggests that Sputnik is effectively a viral parasite that sickens its host ? seemingly the first such example. The team suggests that Sputnik is a ?virophage?, much like the bacteriophage viruses that infect and sicken bacteria. ?It infects this factory like a phage infects a bacterium,? Koonin says. ?It?s doing what every parasite can ? exploiting its host for its own replication.? 'Virophage' suggests viruses are alive (via /.)...
Virus that infects larger virii - Boing Boing {...} Published: August 7, 2008, 8:18 am - Indexed: August 8, 2008, 10:39 am - Page Size: 47KB |