Review Article

Smaller Fleas: Viruses of Microorganisms

Figure 3

Schematic representation of various Crenarchaeotavirion morphologies. Reading clockwise from the left, bottle shaped (blue) is the morphology of family Ampullaviridae. The spindle shape is associated with family Fuselloviridae as well as the otherwise unassigned genus Salterprovirus (red). The enveloped Lipothrixviridae are filamentous (fuchsia), with various end-cap adornments not shown. There are four genera associated with this family, Alphalipothrixvirus, Betalipothrixvirus, Gammalipothrixvirus, and Deltalipothrixvirus, with the Alphalipothrixvirus virions somewhat broader relative to length than the others. The rod-shaped viruses, yellow with black ornamentation, are members of family Rudiviridae. Note the terminal fibers located in the figure at the bottom of the virion. The two-tailed virus (green) is classified as a member of family Bicaudaviridae. Its tails form morphologically only following virion release from its parental cell. Lastly, family Guttaviridae (orange, middle) possess droplet-shaped virions, shown with representations of fibers starburst shape found at their “tail” (right) end. Virions are not drawn to scale.
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