巨大病毒的发现及研究进展

Discovery and progress of giant virus

人们发现第一个病毒以来,病毒学科取得了迅猛的发展,人们对病毒大小的认知也已经基本成型。21世纪初,科学家发现了拟菌病毒,开启了巨大病毒的大门,此后人们又陆续发现了多种巨大病毒。这些病毒体积较大,基因复杂,已经超出了以往以大小区分病毒的标准,其体积和基因组大小甚至与很多原核和真核生物相当。此外,科学家们还发现了数种能够感染巨大病毒和其他核质大DNA病毒(nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus,NCLDV)的病毒,将其命名为噬病毒体。这一系列新发现极大地触动了人们对病毒认识的知识体系,并导致了关于病毒起源与进化问题的讨论,这在病毒学史上具有重大的意义。

Since the first virus was recognized, virology has made a rapid development. The people＇s perception about the size of viral particle has been basically formed. Early 21 St-century, scientists discovered Mimivirus as the first giant virus. Several other giant viruses have been found sequentially. These giant viral particles are larger, and their genomes have exceeded the previous standard in size to distinguish virus. They are even as large as some parasitic prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In addition, the scientists also found some organisms can infected the giant viruses and other nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA virus （NCLDV）, named as Virophage. This series of newly discovered virus shacked people＇s understanding of viruses and lead a discussion on the origins and evolution of the virus, which has great significance in the history of virology.