Mimivirus
| Mimivirus | |
|---|---|
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| Virus classification | |
| Group: | Group I (dsDNA) |
| Family: | Mimiviridae |
| Genus: | Mimivirus |
| Species | |
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Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus |
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Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus
Acanthamoeba polyphaga moumouvirus
Mimivirus bombay
Courdo11 virus
LBA 111 virus
Samba virus
Shan virus
Saudi moumouvirus
Terra1 virus
Terra2 virus
Mimivirus is a genus of viruses, in the family Mimiviridae. Amoeba serve as natural hosts. This genus contains a single identified species named Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV), which serves as its type species. It also refers to a group of phylogenetically related large viruses, designated usually "MimiN".
In colloquial speech, APMV is more commonly referred to as just "mimivirus". Mimivirus, short for "mimicking microbe", is so called to reflect its large size and apparent Gram-staining properties.
Mimivirus has a large and complex genome compared with most other viruses. Until October 2011, when a larger virus Megavirus chilensis was described, it had the largest capsid diameter of all known viruses.
APMV was discovered accidentally in 1992 within the amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga, after which it is named, during research into Legionellosis by researchers from Marseille and Leeds. The virus was observed in a gram stain and mistakenly thought to be a gram-positive bacterium. As a consequence it was named Bradfordcoccus, after the district the amoeba was sourced from in Bradford, England. In 2003, researchers at the Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France published a paper in Science identifying the micro-organism as a virus. It was given the name "Mimivirus" (for "Mimicking microbe") as it resembles a bacterium on Gram staining.
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