The Particle SSV1 from the Extremely Thermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus is a Virus: Demonstration of Infectivity and of Transfection with Viral DNA

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 89; no. 16; pp. 7645 - 7649
• Main Authors: Schleper, Christa, Kubo, Klaus, Zillig, Wolfram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 15-08-1992; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Bacteriophages - genetics; Bacteriophages - growth & development; Bacteriophages - isolation & purification; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cell culture techniques; Chromosomes; Chromosomes, Bacterial; Cultured cells; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; DNA, Viral - genetics; DNA, Viral - isolation & purification; Electric Stimulation; Electroporation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Bacterial; Genetics; Genome, Viral; Genomes; Hot Temperature; Kinetics; Medical research; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Oligonucleotide Probes; Plasmids; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; Restriction Mapping; RNA, Transfer - genetics; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Sulfolobus; Sulfolobus - genetics; Sulfolobus - physiology; Time Factors; Transfection; Transfer RNA; Virology; Virus Integration; Virus Replication; Viruses; Virus; Virus multiplication; Transfection; Ultraviolet irradiation; Archaeobacteria; Induction; Infectivity; Lysogeny; Molecular integration; Bacteria; Virus replication cycle; Sulfolobus
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.89.16.7645

The lemon-shaped "virus-like" particle SSV1 produced by the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus shibatae has not previously been observed to infect any host. Using a plaque assay suitable for the extreme growth conditions of this archaeon, we have shown infection of Sulfolobus solfataricus by SSV1. Upon infection, the viral genome was always found integrated into a tRNA gene of the host chromosome, a situation similar to that in S. shibatae, proving that site-specific integration is involved in establishing the lysogenic state. As in S. shibatae, UV-irradiation of lysogenized S. solfataricus led to virus production apparently not accompanied by cell lysis. We have also demonstrated the efficient uptake of exogenous DNA and its expression in Sulfolobus by transfecting S. solfataricus with SSV1 DNA by electroporation. Transfection efficiencies of up to 106transfectants per μg of DNA were obtained.