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''Lambdavirus'' is a genus of
virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...
es in the class '' Caudoviricetes''. Bacteria serve as natural hosts, with transmission achieved through passive diffusion. There are five species in this genus.


Taxonomy

The following species are recognized: * '' Lambdavirus DE3'' * '' Lambdavirus HK629'' * '' Lambdavirus HK630'' * '' Lambdavirus lambda'' * '' Lambdavirus lvO276'' The genus also includes several unclassified viruses—including the corynephages β and ω, which infect ''
Corynebacterium diphtheriae ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae'' is a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. It is also known as the Klebs–Löffler bacillus because it was discovered in 1884 by German bacteriologists Edwin Klebs (1834–1912) and Friedrich ...
'' and carry the deadly
diphtheria toxin Diphtheria toxin is an exotoxin secreted mainly by '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae'' but also by ''Corynebacterium ulcerans'' and '' Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis'', the pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. The toxin gene is enco ...
.NCBI
Corynephage beta
(species)
NCBI
Corynephage omega
(species)


Structure

Lambdaviruses are
nonenveloped A viral envelope is the outermost layer of many types of viruses. It protects the genetic material in their life cycle when traveling between host cells. Not all viruses have envelopes. A viral envelope protein or E protein is a protein in the env ...
, with a head and tail. The head is about 60 nm in diameter, consisting of 72 capsomers (T=7, levo).


Genome

All species have been fully sequenced. They range between 42k and 49k nucleotides, with 56 to 73 proteins.


Life cycle

The virus attaches to the host cell's adhesion receptors using its terminal fiber, and ejects the viral DNA into the host cytoplasm vi
long flexible tail ejection system
Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Replication follows the replicative transposition model. DNA-templated transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by -1 ribosomal frameshifting, and +1 ribosomal frameshifting. Once the viral genes have been replicated, the procapsid is assembled and packed. The tail is then assembled and the mature virions are released via lysis, and holin/endolysin/spanin proteins. Bacteria serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are passive diffusion.


History

According to ICTV's taxon history: * ''Lambda phage'' appeared in th
first report
of 1971, unassigned to order, family, or subfamily. * Genus ''Lambda phage group'' created in th
second report
(1975). To it were also added three phages: PA2, phiD328, and phi80 (none of which are in 2024 ''Lambdavirus''). * Assigned to family '' Siphoviridae'' in 1984 upon the family's creation. * Renamed to ''Lambda-like phages'' i
sixth report
(1995). By this point phi80 and PA2 were still in the genus. HK022, HK97, phiD328 were abolished. * Siphoviridae moved to newly created order '' Caudovirales'' in 1998. * Renamed to ''Lambda-like viruses'' in ICTV'
seventh report
in 1999. * I
2012
the genus was renamed again, to ''Lambdalikevirus''. * The genus was renamed to ''Lambdavirus'' in 2015. * Siphoviridae abolished in 2021.


Circumscription

The scope of the genus has changed significantly in its evolution. Originally a group of all so-called lambdoid phages (synonyms ''Lambda-like viruses'', ''Lambda-like phages'', ''Lambda phage group''), its scope has narrowed significantly. * HK022 and HK97 were abolished in 1995 but re-admitted in 2004 into this genus. In 2017 they became genus '' Hk97virus''. In 2018 HK022 was moved to '' Hendrixvirus'' by rename of the genus. In 2019 HK022 was moved to its own genus '' Shamshuipovirus''. * PA2 was abolished at an unknown date and re-admitted in 2016 in the genus '' Tl2011virus''. In 2018 it was moved to '' Oslovirus'' by rename of the genus. * phiD328 and phi80 are not found anywhere in the 2024 ICTV taxonomy. Given the above history, the latest document that defines the boundary of the genus is the 2017 document that created ''Hk97virus''. Unfortunately the document does not specifically address the inclusion criteria for ''Lambdavirus'', only the evidence for their new genus being monophyletic and reasonably similar with each other. The only part that shows the similarity among the members of ''Lambdavirus'' was in figure 2, a Gegenees BLASTN analysis using window of 100 bp and a slide of 50 bp. The lowest Gegeenes similarity among members of the group was 62.5%. The general guideline from ICTV's Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses Subcommitee in 2017 was 50% nucleotide similarity. The term ''lambdoid phage'' remains commonly used. It originally consisted of an operational definition of "phages that can recombine with lambda and form a functional, recombinant phage". The term was slightly expanded in the genomic era to mean phages that have a similar-enough functional gene order and at least some patch of homology so that, if ''hypothetically'' recombined with lambda, it would form a functional phage with all required genes. The possibility of recombination does not necessarily imply a recent common ancestor and the apparently recombinant character of P22 adds to the problem. Phages that have been called lambdoid include members as diverse as '' Lederbergvirus P22'', '' Byrnievirus HK97'', Salmonella phage ES18, Salmonella phage Gifsy-2, and '' Traversvirus tv933W''.


References


External links


Viralzone: Lambdalikevirus

ICTV
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Siphoviridae Virus genera