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Giant viruses have revealed a number of surprises that challenge conventions on what constitutes a virus. The Samba virus newly isolated in Brazil expands the known distribution of giant mimiviruses to a near-global scale. These viruses, together with the transposon-related virophages that infect them, pose a number of questions about their evolutionary origins that need to be considered in the light of the complex entanglement between host, virus and virophage genomes.

Original publication

DOI

10.1186/s12915-014-0051-y

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMC Biol

Publication Date

30/06/2014

Volume

12

Keywords

Mimiviridae, Phylogeny, Rivers