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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2005, p. 4516-4522, Vol. 71, No. 8
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.8.4516-4522.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Single-Stranded RNA Virus Infectious to a Marine Fungoid Protist, Schizochytrium sp. (Thraustochytriaceae, Labyrinthulea)

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada, Kobe 658-8501, Japan,¹ National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, Fisheries Research Agency, 2-17-5 Maruishi, Ohno, Saeki, Hiroshima 739-0452, Japan,² Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan³

Received 5 September 2004/ Accepted 3 March 2005

Thraustochytrids are cosmopolitan osmoheterotrophic microorganisms that play important roles as decomposers, producers of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and pathogens of mollusks, especially in coastal ecosystems. SssRNAV, a novel single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus infecting the marine fungoid protist Schizochytrium sp. (Labyrinthulea, Thraustochytriaceae) was isolated from the coastal water of Kobe Harbor, Japan, in July 2000, and its basic characteristics were examined. The virus particle is icosahedral, lacks a tail, and is ca. 25 nm in diameter. SssRNAV formed crystalline arrays and random assemblies within the cytoplasm of host cells, and it was also concentrated along the intracellular membrane structures. By means of one-step growth experiments, the lytic cycle and the burst size were estimated to be <8 h and 5.8 x 10³ to 6.4 x 10⁴ infectious units per host cell, respectively. SssRNAV had a single molecule of ssRNA that was approximately 10.2 kb long, three major proteins (37, 34, and 32 kDa), and two minor proteins (80 and 18 kDa). Although SssRNAV was considered to have some similarities with invertebrate viruses belonging to the family Dicistroviridae based on its partial nucleotide sequence, further genomic analysis is required to determine the detailed classification and nomenclature of SssRNAV. Our results indicate that viral infection is one of the significant factors controlling the dynamics of thraustochytrids and provide new insights into understanding the ecology of these organisms.

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