Tag Archives: virus

Chlorella Virus: NOT big and plodding

Posted on December 17, 2013 by SubOptimist

Chlorella Virus has been challenging my stereotypes once again.  In addition to the “bigger genome therefore bigger virus particle” assumption,  I was clearly guilty of a “bigger virus therefore slow at replicating” assumption too.  Its nothing I though explicitly, in … Continue reading →

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A context for Chlorella Viruses: Size

Posted on December 17, 2013 by SubOptimist

Chlorella viruses are big.  Consider the titles of the following review papers dealing with them: The Phycodnaviridae: The Story of How Tiny Giants Rule the World DNA Viruses: The Really Big Ones (Giruses) Structures of giant icosahedral eukaryotic dsDNA viruses There are two … Continue reading →

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Phycodnaviridae hosts

Posted on December 13, 2013 by SubOptimist

The Phycodnaviridae virus Family consists of six known Genera, all of which infect algae*.   These algal hosts have some pretty interesting stories on their own. For instance, Phaeophycaea (also known as brown algae) is a Class within Eukaryotes that … Continue reading →

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Viral eyes upon us?

Posted on November 17, 2013 by SubOptimist

“Viruses can’t see, right?” “No, no, no  – viruses aren’t cells and its inside cells that you detect light.” “So why do they have genes that make proteins that can sense light? “(1) “Huh?” To explain this, we first need … Continue reading →

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250 Angstroms. Keep your books.

Posted on October 26, 2013 by SubOptimist

How long is the adenovirus fiber shaft? Internet: 1 hour of clicking through primary literature: nothing.  Lots of mentions of protein sizes, number of repeats, sizes in base pairs, but very little mention of how long the damn structure is. … Continue reading →

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Quick! Duct tape your windows!

Posted on December 21, 2011 by SubOptimist

When you hear the news piece about the scientists who “made the deadly flu virus” and the US government’s request to partially censor the publication, know this: (1) they only showed that the recombinant virus transmitted between ferrets, not humans, not even primates.  Even … Continue reading →

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