Resolving and quantifying viral-like particles via blind deconvolution - BMC Methods BMC Methods - Viruses represent the most numerous’biological entities’on Earth; but the direct quantification of viruses within ecosystems is a significant challenge. The classical...

The first automated computer vision–based software enabling the detection, enumeration, and sizing of virus-like particles from epifluorescence microscopy (EFM) images of environmental samples.

Published online in BMC methods today. #giantvirus #phagesky

Paper
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Giant Virus Discovered in Japanese Pond May Hint at Multicellular Life's Origins Scientists in Japan have discovered a previously unknown giant virus, offering new insight into this enigmatic category of viruses – and possibly also into the origins of multicellular life.

Giant Virus Discovered in Japanese Pond May Hint at Multicellular Life's Origins #Science #Biology #EvolutionaryBiology #GiantVirus #Multicellularity #OriginsOfLife

www.sciencealert.com/giant-virus-discovered-i...

For some reason, this didn't show up automatically in #giantVirus

Single-cell genomics reveals complex microbial and viral associations in ciliates and testate amoebae

"The frequent co-occurrence of giant viruses and microbial symbionts, especially in amoebae, suggests multipartite interactions"

In a world where an ancient evil has been awaken. Tom Cruise in "Phage." Coming Summer 2026

Needed a laugh/joke today.

#phage #microsky #giantvirus #phagesky

#giantvirus

What a week in @same18-bcn.bsky.social in Barcelona! 🔬🧬

🌊🦠Presented my work on giant viruses & virophages in marine protists - even in the Hangover session!

🥂Great to have a moment to answer brilliant questions and make new connections 🌊

#giantvirus #virophages #SAME18 #AquaticMicrobiology

reposting for #giantVirus feed

Giant Virus with Record-Long Tail Discovered in Pacific Ocean More than 20 years ago, scientists identified the first so-called giant viruses, far larger than traditional viruses—or even some bacteria—and harboring up to several thousand genes. These oddities have made biologists rethink the branches of life and continue to offer surprises. Witness the recently discovered giant virus, PelV-1, whose tail of unprecedented length makes it look like a microscopic stingray (above). Few viruses have tails, with most being very small viruses called phages that infect bacteria. But by virus standards PelV-1, is massive, with a 200-nanometer-size capsid, the main shell of the virus. It has two tails with the 30-nanometer-wide one being the star of the show. Extending up to 2.3 micrometers, it’s the longest virus appendage described to date, the research team that found PelV-1 reports in a recent bioRxiv preprint. For comparison, this tail is approximately 19 times larger than the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.   PelV-1 was identified infecting an important marine phytoplankton, Pelagodinium, feasted on by zooplankton and fish in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. So, understanding the giant virus and its tail, which seems to help it enter Pelagodinium cells, could add to our understanding of ocean ecosystems. Within PelV-1’s genome, researchers found metabolic genes that may help generate energy for the virus, as well as a gene for light-harvesting complexes, which makes sense given that the virus was isolated from a sea layer that receives sunlight. When the researchers watched the virus infect a phytoplankton, they saw the longer tail attaching to the target cell. And after the virus was engulfed inside the cell, the tail disappeared. This could mean the tail develops while the virus is outside a host cell, though more research is needed.   More about the discovery in bioRxiv (July 19, 2025): https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.19.665647v1 

The capsid of the virus is about 200 nm, whereas the tail is thinner (30nm-wide) and can extend to 2.3 µm, the longest virus appendage described to date. For comparison, this tail is approximately 19 times larger than SARS-CoV-2. #giantvirus

if i were a better person i would do a tweetorial on our recent paper - but, hey, read the paper. its right there, waiting for you. #Giantvirus #histones are cool! their #nucleosomes are cool. check it out.! thats the tweetorial.
rdcu.be/exXBX

Multiple origins, one function: evolutionary pathways of HSP70 proteins in viruses Heat shock proteins 70 (HSP70) are highly conserved molecular chaperones found across all domains of life, where they play essential roles in cellular stress responses. While HSP70 homologs have been ...

Heat Shock Protein 70 (AKA HSP70) in Mimiviridae and Phycodnaviridae likely originated from horizontal transfer from their protist hosts. By @sfelena.bsky.social & @amaachi.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#giantVirus #VirEvol

Scientists Discover First Giant Virus in Finnish Soil Finland’s first giant virus, Jyvaskylavirus, shows these viruses are more widespread than thought and play key roles in ecosystems. For the first time in Finland, researchers at the University of Jyväskylä’s...

Scientists Discover First Giant Virus in Finnish Soil #Science #Biology #Microbiology #GiantVirus #EnvironmentalScience

Finland finds its first giant virus Many viruses measure just tens of nanometers (nm) in size, but that’s not always the case. In some rare instances , so-called “giant viruses” can grow to  as much as 1,000 times larger than their...

Finland finds its first giant virus #Science #Biology #Microbiology #GiantVirus #Finland #MicrobiologyResearch

#giantVirus 👇

BFVD—a large repository of predicted viral protein structures Abstract. The AlphaFold Protein Structure Database (AFDB) is the largest repository of accurately predicted structures with taxonomic labels. Despite provi

this is now published y'all #giantvirus
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

#giantVirus

Don't forget the #giantVirus tag! With it, it will get collected in the Giant virus feed

Genomic and structural insights into Jyvaskylavirus, the first giant virus isolated from Finland Giant viruses of protists are a diverse and likely ubiquitous group of organisms. Here, we describe Jyvaskylavirus, the first giant virus isolated from Finland. This clade B marseillevirus was found i...

there is a new #giantvirus in town! and it speaks Finnish! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

BFVD - a large repository of predicted viral protein structures The AlphaFold Protein Structure Database (AFDB) is the largest repository of accurately predicted structures with taxonomic labels. Despite providing predictions for over 214 million UniProt entries, ...

how did I not know about this?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The aptly named Big Fantastic Virus Database (BFVD), a repository of 351,242 protein structures predicted by applying ColabFold to the viral sequence representatives of the UniRef30 clusters. 🧪 #giantvirus 🧪

Forgot to post #giantvirus tag

The polinton-like supergroup of viruses: evolution, molecular biology, and taxonomy | Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews SUMMARYPolintons are 15–20 kb-long self-synthesizing transposons that are widespread in eukaryotic, and in particular protist, genomes. Apart from a transposase and a protein-primed DNA polymerase, po...

The polinton-like supergroup of #viruses: #evolution, molecular biology, and #taxonomy

Review by Koonin, Fischer, Kuhn,and @mkrupovic.bsky.social

#VirEvol and related to #giantVirus

doi.org/10.1128/mmbr...

A giant virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria - Nature Communications This is the first report on a virus infecting the amoeboflagellate Naegleria, including the lethal human pathogen N. fowleri. The new virus isolate, Catovirus naegleriensis (Naegleriavirus, NiV),...

New #giantVirus on the block alert!

Along with a great team of people lead by @patrickarthofer.bsky.social, Florian Panhölzl, and Matthias Horn, we describe a novel Catovirus infecting the amoeboflagellate #Naegleria

@dome-vienna.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Evolution of exploitation and replication of giant viruses and virophages Abstract. Tripartite biotic interactions are inherently complex, and the strong interdependence of species and often one-sided exploitation can make these

Experimental evolution work on the tripartite symbiotic system made up of the marine bacterivore Cafeteria burkhardae, the #giantVirus Cafeteria roenbergensis virus, and the virophage mavirus.

#VirEvol #ProtistsOnSky

doi.org/10.1093/ve/v...

Welcome to the new Giant Viruses feed. This is a custom feed for all posts related to giant viruses/Nucleocytoviricota at large. For now, no signup needed. Tag your post with #giantVirus or any of the classes, orders, families, etc. of Nucleocytoviricota (w/wo #, e.g. #Megaviricetes)! Like and pin!

On our way to the #giantVirus symposium at the Ringberg Castle!

#giVirSymp23

Three more for the list:

Symbiosis (#SymbioSky)
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Virus Evolution (#VirEvol)
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Giant Viruses (AKA Nucleocytoviricota; #giantVirus or any of the classes, orders, families, or genera w/or without #, e.g. #Megaviricetes)
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Just ran into this one. Updated #genome assembly of the green algal bacterivore Cymbomonas tetramitiformis revealed the integration of an #Algavirales NCLDV into its genome!

doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

@burnsajohn.bsky.social #ProtistsOnSky #giantVirus #MicroSky

(Image taken from "the bad place")

For viruses, consider also the Virus Evolution feed. Tag posts with #VirEvol
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Also, you have the giant virus feed. Simply tag with #giantVirus or any of the classes, orders, families, or genera of Nucleocytoviricota (e.g. Mimivirus w/wo #).
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Amazing structural diversity of giant virus-like particles in forest soil bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

Very cool #virus-like particles likely representing novel (and quite crazy) giant viruses!

#MicroSky #giantVirus

doi.org/10.1101/2023...

#Pithovirus genomes have a massive ammount of #MITElements in their genomes, comprising about 20% of ther genomes!

#giantVirus #VirEvol #MicroSky 🦠🧫 🧬🖥️

doi.org/10.1093/molb...

Made a new feed for all things giant viruses (aka Nucleocytoviricota at large). Just tag your post with #giantVirus or any of the classes, orders, families, or genera of Nucleocytoviricota (w/wo #, e.g. #Megaviricetes, #Mimiviridae..). Lke and pin it if you like it! #VirEvol
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