A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic review
Half a Century of Research on Membrane-Containing Bacteriophages: Bringing New Concepts to Modern Virology (2019)

Mäntynen, S., Sundberg, L.-R., Oksanen, H. M., & Poranen, M. M. (2019). Half a Century of Research on Membrane-Containing Bacteriophages: Bringing New Concepts to Modern Virology. Viruses, 11(1), Article 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11010076

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mäntynen, Sari; Sundberg, Lotta-Riina; Oksanen, Hanna M.; Poranen, Minna M.

Journal or series: Viruses

ISSN: 1999-4915

eISSN: 1999-4915

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 11

Issue number: 1

Article number: 76

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/v11010076

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/62582

Abstract

Half a century of research on membrane-containing phages has had a major impact on virology, providing new insights into virus diversity, evolution and ecological importance. The recent revolutionary technical advances in imaging, sequencing and lipid analysis have significantly boosted the depth and volume of knowledge on these viruses. This has resulted in new concepts of virus assembly, understanding of virion stability and dynamics, and the description of novel processes for viral genome packaging and membrane-driven genome delivery to the host. The detailed analyses of such processes have given novel insights into DNA transport across the protein-rich lipid bilayer and the transformation of spherical membrane structures into tubular nanotubes, resulting in the description of unexpectedly dynamic functions of the membrane structures. Membrane-containing phages have provided a framework for understanding virus evolution. The original observation on membrane-containing bacteriophage PRD1 and human pathogenic adenovirus has been fundamental in delineating the concept of “viral lineages”, postulating that the fold of the major capsid protein can be used as an evolutionary fingerprint to trace long-distance evolutionary relationships that are unrecognizable from the primary sequences. This has brought the early evolutionary paths of certain eukaryotic, bacterial, and archaeal viruses together, and potentially enables the reorganization of the nearly immeasurable virus population (~1 × 1031) on Earth into a reasonably low number of groups representing different architectural principles. In addition, the research on membrane-containing phages can support the development of novel tools and strategies for human therapy and crop protection.

Keywords: viruses; bacteriophages

Free keywords: tectiviridae; cystoviridae; corticoviridae; plasmaviridae; lipid-containing bacteriophage; virus-host interaction; virus evolution

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 1