📋 Tender Overview
Functional Evolution Of Giant Virus Capsids
Giant Viruses With Unprecedented Capsid Modifications: A Role In Adaptationmost Viruses Have A Handful Of Genes, Supporting Their Replication And Capsid Production. The First ‘Giant’ Virus Was Discovered In 2003. Its Genome Encoded Nearly A Thousand Proteins And It Was Visible With A Light Microscope. Since Then, Many More Giant Virus Strains Have Been Discovered. Despite Learning Much About Their Genetic Diversity, Scientists Still Know Little About Their Capsid Structures And Infection Mechanisms. The Erc-Funded Capsolution Project Aims To Characterise The Unprecedented Capsid Modifications Of Two Recently Discovered Giant Viruses Using Structure–Function Studies Of Virus–Host Systems And Evolutionary Analyses Of The Viruses’ Appendage-Associated Genes. It Will Shed Light On The Role Of Capsid Modifications In Adaptation To The Environment.
Funded Under
European Research Council (Erc)
Total Cost
€ 2 425 000,00
Eu Contribution
€ 2 425 000,00
Coordinated By
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Wissenschaften Ev
Germany
Start Date
1 January 2025
End Date
31 December 2029
Objective
How do viruses identify their hosts in a challenging environment? This question is highly relevant for protist-infecting giant viruses in aquatic ecosystems, where the density of host cells is typically low and random encounters are rare. Giant viruses have genome sizes of up to two megabases and encode a vast genetic diversity, but we know almost nothing about their diverse capsid structures and the various strategies they use for infecting the next host cell. During the last decade, I have shed light on the symbiotic interactions between marine flagellates, giant viruses and their virophage parasites.
With CAPSOLUTION, I will use our collection of freshwater flagellate cultures to characterize giant viruses with previously unknown capsid structures from oligotrophic lakes. We recently discovered two giant viruses with unprecedented capsid modifications: Cometa virus , whose capsid has a bundle of unique head fibers and a conical tail; and Sentinel virus , whose tentacle-like appendages span several micrometers. CAPSOLUTION will allow me to characterize the fascinating virion structures of Cometa and Sentinel viruses at molecular resolution and elucidate their function during host attachment and infection.
What is the protein composition of these appendages and how are they assembled? How did they evolve? How common and diverse are modified capsids among giant viruses and how do they adapt to environmental constraints? I will address these questions in a multi-disciplinary approach combining the morpho-genomic characterization of natural giant virus communities with structure-function studies of newly isolated virus-host systems and evolutionary analyses of their appendage-associated genes. CAPSOLUTION will reveal how giant viruses use unique capsid modifications to adapt to their environment, ther
