@article{PAR00015073,
  title = {{C}omparison of a modern and fossil {P}ithovirus reveals its genetic conservation and evolution},
  author = {{L}evasseur, {A}. and {A}ndreani, {J}. and {D}elerce, {J}. and {K}halil, {J}. {B}. and {R}obert, {C}. and {L}a {S}cola, {B}. and {R}aoult, {D}idier},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{M}ost theories on viral evolution are speculative and lack fossil comparison. {H}ere, we isolated a modern {P}ithovirus-like virus from sewage samples. {T}his giant virus, named {P}ithovirus massiliensis, was compared with its prehistoric counterpart, {P}ithovirus sibericum, found in {S}iberian permafrost. {O}ur analysis revealed near-complete gene repertoire conservation, including horizontal gene transfer and {ORF}ans. {F}urthermore, all orthologous genes evolved under strong purifying selection with a non-synonymous and synonymous ratio in the same range as the ratio found in the prokaryotic world. {T}he comparison between fossil and modern {P}ithovirus species provided an estimation of the cadence of the molecular clock, reaching up to 3 x 10(-6) mutations/site/year. {I}n addition, the strict conservation of {HGT}s and {ORF}ans in {P}. massiliensis revealed the stablegenetic mosaicism in giant viruses and excludes the concept of a bag of genes. {T}he genetic stability for 30,000 years of {P}. massiliensis demonstrates that giant viruses evolve similarly to prokaryotes by classical mechanisms of evolution, including selection and fixation of genes, followed by selective constraints.},
  keywords = {giant viruses ; evolution ; mosaicism ; fossil},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{G}enome {B}iology and {E}volution},
  volume = {8},
  numero = {8},
  pages = {2333--2339},
  ISSN = {1759-6653},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.1093/gbe/evw153},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00015073},
}