A1 Journal article (refereed)
Cryo-EM structure of ssDNA bacteriophage ΦCjT23 provides insight into early virus evolution (2022)

Kejzar, N., Laanto, E., Rissanen, I., Abrishami, V., Selvaraj, M., Moineau, S., Ravantti, J., Sundberg, L.-R., & Huiskonen, J. T. (2022). Cryo-EM structure of ssDNA bacteriophage ΦCjT23 provides insight into early virus evolution. Nature Communications, 13, Article 7478. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35123-6

JYU authors or editors

Laanto, Elina
Sundberg, Lotta-Riina

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kejzar, Nejc; Laanto, Elina; Rissanen, Ilona; Abrishami, Vahid; Selvaraj, Muniyandi; Moineau, Sylvain; Ravantti, Janne; Sundberg, Lotta-Riina; Huiskonen, Juha T.

Journal or series: Nature Communications

eISSN: 2041-1723

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 03/12/2022

Volume: 13

Article number: 7478

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35123-6

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/84489

Abstract

The origin of viruses remains an open question. While lack of detectable sequence similarity hampers the analysis of distantly related viruses, structural biology investigations of conserved capsid protein structures facilitate the study of distant evolutionary relationships. Here we characterize the lipid-containing ssDNA temperate bacteriophage ΦCjT23, which infects Flavobacterium sp. (Bacteroidetes). We report ΦCjT23-like sequences in the genome of strains belonging to several Flavobacterium species. The virion structure determined by cryogenic electron microscopy reveals similarities to members of the viral kingdom Bamfordvirae that currently consists solely of dsDNA viruses with a major capsid protein composed of two upright β-sandwiches. The minimalistic structure of ΦCjT23 suggests that this phage serves as a model for the last common ancestor between ssDNA and dsDNA viruses in the Bamfordvirae. Both ΦCjT23 and the related phage FLiP infect Flavobacterium species found in several environments, suggesting that these types of viruses have a global distribution and a shared evolutionary origin. Detailed comparisons to related, more complex viruses not only expand our knowledge about this group of viruses but also provide a rare glimpse into early virus evolution.

Keywords: viruses; bacteriophages; evolution; genome; phylogeny; phylogenetics; electron microscopy