Prowess on parade (Image: Russell Knightley/SPL)
THE world’s largest known virus just got bigger, and analysis of its genome supports the controversial idea that shaped the cells of all animals and plants.
Armed with almost 1000 genes, the mimivirus is a monster compared with classic viruses such as HIV or the flu virus, which seldom have more than 10 genes. Jean-Michel Claverie of the Structural and Genomic Information Laboratory in Marseilles, France, has performed the first analysis of its genetic machinery, identifying which of the mimivirus’s genes are switched on during each stage of infection.
He found that…
