Scientists: some viruses have their own immune system

French scientists from the University of AIX-Marseille found that larger viruses like APMV and MGVC forced to defend themselves from penetration harmful microbes with the immune system, such as CRISPR, which was first discovered in bacteria in the late 80's and now widely used in genetics. The details of this amazing discovery was published on the Nature News website.

The size of the so-called mimivirus (charming name, isn't it?) so great that it can be viewed with a conventional light microscope. It has the largest capsid (outer protein shell) of all known viruses – about 500 nanometers in diameter (the diameter of the capsid of the same megavirus – 440 nanometers), making it similar to small bacteria. But unlike other viruses and even bacteria, mimivirus extremely konstruktivnyi genome and about 1.2 million base pairs.





Open mimivirus in 1992, aroused great interest in scientific circles. Some scientists have even suggested that this virus is an intermediate between viruses and cellular organisms.

But others believe that mimivirus is a fundamentally new form of life that is neither virus nor bacteria.

The fact that mimivirus could be subjected to attacks of smaller viruses, it is isolated from the virus series. But in 2014 scientists have found that viruses could break through the protection of only certain types of mimivirus. This was the cause of the hypothesis that mimivirus has its own immune system.

The essence of the immunity is that mimivirus borrows DNA fragments attacking viruses and introducing them into your genetic code. When viruses of the same type try to attack again, mimivirus calculates them down and destroy them. The borrowed fragments of the genetic code in an organism's DNA and are called CRISPR.

French scientists have conducted a number of studies 60 different strains of mimivirus and came to the conclusion that their DNA contains part of the genetic code smaller virophage Zamilion that makes mimivirus resistant to its effects. Mimivirus to fight the invaders uses special enzymes that lead to the dissolution of their DNA. Scientists describe immunity mimivirus term MIMIVIRE (MIMIvirus VIrophage Resistance Element).published





Author: Alexander Gray

 

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Source: hi-news.ru/research-development/uchyonye-vyyasnili-chto-u-nekotoryx-virusov-est-sobstvennaya-immunnaya-sistema.html

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