''Dinodnavirus'' is a genus of viruses that infect dinoflagellates.Tarutani K, Nagasaki K, Itakura S, Yamaguchi M (2001) Isolation of a virus infecting the novel shellfish-killing dinoflagellate ''Heterocapsa circularisquama''. Aquat Microb Ecol 23:103–111 This genus belongs to the clade of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses. The name is derived from 'dino' (dinoflagellate) and DNA (from its genome). The only species in the genus is ''Heterocapsa circularisquama DNA virus 01''. __TOC__

Virology

The virus has an icosahedral capsid ~200 nanometers in diameter. The genome is a single molecule of double stranded DNA of a ~356-kilobases. It infects the dinoflagellate '' Heterocapsa circularisquama''. During replication virions emerge from a specific cytoplasm compartment – the 'viroplasm' – which is created by the virus.Nagasaki K, Tomaru Y, Tarutani K, Katanozaka N, Yamanaka S, Tanabe H, Yamaguchi M (2003) Growth characteristics and intraspecies host specificity of a large virus infecting the dinoflagellate ''Heterocapsa circularisquama''. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:2580–2586

Taxonomy

The sole species was originally thought to belong to the family '' Phycodnaviridae''. DNA studies have shown that it belongs in the family '' Asfarviridae''.Ogata H, Toyoda K, Tomaru Y, Nakayama N, Shirai Y, Claverie JM, Nagasaki K (2009) Remarkable sequence similarity between the dinoflagellate-infecting marine girus and the terrestrial pathogen African swine fever virus. Virol J 6:178

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1226669 Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses Virus genera