Premium
ENTRY OF A CHLORELLA ‐VIRUS INTO ITS HOST CELL 1
Author(s) -
Reisser Werner,
Kapaun Edwin
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1991.00609.x
Subject(s) - biology , chlorella , virus , cell wall , enzyme , chlamydomonas , chlorophyceae , dna , capsid , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , algae , chlorophyta , botany , mutant , gene
The endosymbiotic Chlorella sp. (Chlorophyceae) of Paramecium bursaria (Ciliata) can be infected by a double‐stranded DNA‐containing virus (Chlorella‐ virus) that has a phagelike entry mechanism. Electron micrographs show that soon after attachment of the virus to the algal cell wall, a hole is formed through which the viral DNA enters the alga. Biochemical studies on a European Chlorella‐ virus system suggest that digestion of the algal cell wall is caused by glycolytic enzymes, one of which was identified as a β‐ d ‐glucosidase. Enzymes are bound to the virus capsid and are activated only after or by the attachment of the virus to its cognate alga or to preparations of the algal cell wall. Common features of viral cell wall‐digesting enzymes and algal autolysins are discussed.