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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

The global demand for industrial enzymes has been increasing in recent years, and the search for new sources of these biological products is intense, especially in microorganisms. Most known viruses have limited genetic machinery and, thus, have been overlooked by the enzyme industry for years. However, a peculiar group of viruses breaks this paradigm. Giant viruses of the phylum Nucleocytoviricota infect protists (i.e., algae and amoebae) and have complex genomes, reaching up to 2.7 Mb in length and encoding hundreds of genes. Different giant viruses have robust metabolic machinery, especially those in the Phycodnaviridae and Mimiviridae families. In this review, we present some peculiarities of giant viruses that infect protists and discuss why they should be seen as an outstanding source of new enzymes. We revisited the genomes of representatives of different groups of giant viruses and put together information about their enzymatic machinery, highlighting several genes to be explored in biotechnology involved in carbohydrate metabolism, DNA replication, and RNA processing, among others. Finally, we present additional evidence based on structural biology using chitinase as a model to reinforce the role of giant viruses as a source of novel enzymes for biotechnological application.

Details

Title
Giant Viruses as a Source of Novel Enzymes for Biotechnological Application
Author
Gonçalves de Oliveira, Ellen 1 ; João Victor Rodrigues Pessoa Carvalho 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bruna Barbosa Botelho 1 ; Clécio Alonso da Costa Filho 1 ; Lethícia Ribeiro Henriques 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; de Azevedo, Bruna Luiza 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rodrigo Araújo Lima Rodrigues 1 

 Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil 
 Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil; Núcleo de Apoio Técnico ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão, Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Diadema 09913-030, SP, Brazil 
First page
1453
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20760817
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2756770325
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.