Recent research has revealed a remarkable diversity of viruses in archaeal-rich environments where spindles, spheres, fila- ments and rods are common, together with other exceptional morphotypes never recorded previou...Recent research has revealed a remarkable diversity of viruses in archaeal-rich environments where spindles, spheres, fila- ments and rods are common, together with other exceptional morphotypes never recorded previously. Moreover, their dou- ble-stranded DNA genomes carry very few genes exhibiting homology to those of bacterial and eukaryal viruses. Studies on viral life cycles are still at a preliminary stage but important insights are being gained especially from microarray analyses of viral transcripts for a few model virus-host systems. Recently, evidence has been presented for some exceptional archaeal- nspecific mechanisms for extra-cellular morphological development of virions and for their cellular extrusion. Here we sum- marise some of the recent developments in this rapidly developing and exciting research area.展开更多
Topoisomerase III （topo III）, a type IA topoisomerase, is widespread in hyperthermophilic archaea. In order to interrogate the in vivo role of archaeal topo III, we constructed and characterized a topo III gene dele...Topoisomerase III （topo III）, a type IA topoisomerase, is widespread in hyperthermophilic archaea. In order to interrogate the in vivo role of archaeal topo III, we constructed and characterized a topo III gene deletion mutant of Sulfolobus islandicus. The mutant was ,viable but grew more slowly than the wild-type strain, especially in a nutrient-poor medium. Flow cytometry analysis revealed changes of the mutant in growth cycle characteristics including an increase in proportion of cells containing either more than two genome equivalents or less than one genome equivalent in exponentially-growing cultures. As shown by fluorescence microscopy, a fraction of mutant cells in the cultures were drastically enlarged, and at least some of the enlarged cells were apparently capable of resuming cell division. The mutant also shows a different tran- scriptional profile from that of the wild-type strain. Our results suggest that the enzyme may serve roles in chromosomal segregation and control of the level of supercoiling in the cell.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the Danish Natural Science Research Councilthe Danish Council of Technology and Production+1 种基金the Danish Foundation for Basic Researchthe European Union
文摘Recent research has revealed a remarkable diversity of viruses in archaeal-rich environments where spindles, spheres, fila- ments and rods are common, together with other exceptional morphotypes never recorded previously. Moreover, their dou- ble-stranded DNA genomes carry very few genes exhibiting homology to those of bacterial and eukaryal viruses. Studies on viral life cycles are still at a preliminary stage but important insights are being gained especially from microarray analyses of viral transcripts for a few model virus-host systems. Recently, evidence has been presented for some exceptional archaeal- nspecific mechanisms for extra-cellular morphological development of virions and for their cellular extrusion. Here we sum- marise some of the recent developments in this rapidly developing and exciting research area.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.30921065,30730003 and 30870058) to L.Huangthe Danish Research Council for Technology and Production(No.274-07-0116)
文摘Topoisomerase III （topo III）, a type IA topoisomerase, is widespread in hyperthermophilic archaea. In order to interrogate the in vivo role of archaeal topo III, we constructed and characterized a topo III gene deletion mutant of Sulfolobus islandicus. The mutant was ,viable but grew more slowly than the wild-type strain, especially in a nutrient-poor medium. Flow cytometry analysis revealed changes of the mutant in growth cycle characteristics including an increase in proportion of cells containing either more than two genome equivalents or less than one genome equivalent in exponentially-growing cultures. As shown by fluorescence microscopy, a fraction of mutant cells in the cultures were drastically enlarged, and at least some of the enlarged cells were apparently capable of resuming cell division. The mutant also shows a different tran- scriptional profile from that of the wild-type strain. Our results suggest that the enzyme may serve roles in chromosomal segregation and control of the level of supercoiling in the cell.
