“Unusual Lifestyle of Giant Algal Viruses,” will be presented by National Academy of Sciences’ Dr. James Van Etten, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Research in the Van Etten laboratory focuses on the isolation and characterization of large icosahedral, dsDNA-containing, plaque-forming viruses that infect certain unicellular, eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae. These viruses are ubiquitous in fresh water from all over the world. The chlorella viruses have genomes as large as 370 kb that contain as many as 400 protein encoding- and 16 tRNA encoding-genes. Besides their large genomes, the chlorella viruses have other unexpected features: (i) They encode multiple DNA methyltransferases and DNA restriction endonucleases. (ii) Unlike other glycoprotein-containing viruses, chlorella viruses encode most, if not all, of the components required to glycosylate their proteins. (iii) Many chlorella virus-encoded proteins are either the smallest or among the smallest proteins of their class. Consequently, these proteins serve as models for mechanistic and structural studies. Infection by the chlorella viruses resembles bacterial infection by tailed bacteriophages in many respects.
A reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. The seminar is free and open to the public. The Beadle Center is located at 1901 Vine Street.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/txw