College of Hawai’i at Mānoa oceanographers have recognized PelV-1, a dinoflagellate-infecting big virus whose micron-length tail reaches 2.3 µm, stretching present notions of viral structure.
Few phytoplankton-infecting viruses have been characterised, and dinoflagellate isolates stay scarce, leaving ocean-ecosystem fashions in need of very important host-virus information. Prior surveys listed solely two massive DNA viruses infecting Heterocapsa species, neither accompanied by a genome sequence.
Within the research, “A dinoflagellate-infecting big virus with a micron-length tail,” revealed on the bioRxiv pre-print server, researchers mixed electron microscopy and high-coverage sequencing to characterize PelV-1 an infection of Pelagodinium sp.
Host cultures originated from Station ALOHA within the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, the place water sampled at 25 m yielded each the dinoflagellate and its virus.
Microscopy documented ~200 nm capsids and 5 morphotypes distinguished by two appendages: a 30 nm-wide tail extending as much as 2.3 µm and a shorter, thicker protrusion positioned reverse a stargate capsid opening.
Time-series electron microscopy confirmed tails used for preliminary attachment however mature virions inside cells are non-tailed, supporting post-lysis tail meeting.
Outcomes place PelV-1 and the uncommon co-PelV inside Mesomimiviridae and element 467 coding sequences plus 9 tRNAs in PelV-1, alongside 569 genes and 14 tRNAs in co-PelV. Annotated genes span amino-acid, carbohydrate, lipid and TCA-cycle metabolism, light-harvesting advanced, rhodopsin, ion channel, sugar transporters, aquaporin, tail-fiber homologs and encode cold-shock protein HSP70.
The authors suggest {that a} 2.3 µm tail enhances host-encounter charges within the low-biomass gyre, inviting future work on how such constructions form plankton ecology.
PelV-1’s record-setting tail and broad metabolic arsenal broaden the morphological and genomic range recognized for marine viruses.
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Extra info:
Andrian P. Gajigan et al, A dinoflagellate-infecting big virus with a micron-length tail, bioRxiv (2025). DOI: 10.1101/2025.07.19.665647
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