Mimivirus isolated, genome amputated
Monday, June 13, 2011 - 11:31
in Biology & Nature
In the absence of competition with other microorganisms, Mimivirus, the largest known DNA virus, loses 17% of its genome. This has recently been demonstrated by a French-American collaboration including researchers from CNRS, the Universite de la Mediterranee and the Universite de Provence. The results are published on-line this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.