Amoeba-associated bacteria, Mimivirus and other new giant viruses as emerging human pathogens

Orateur : Professeur Bernard LA SCOLA (URMITE, UMR 6236, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille)

Free living amoebae were previously demonstrated as being the reservoir of Legionella pneumoph ila, an agent of pneumonia in humans. The search for other amoeba-associated pathogens led to the discovery of giant viruses such as Acanthamaeba polyphaga mimivirus or Marseilleviridae. The first isolate of the Mimiviridae family was isolated from the free-living amoeba Acanthamaeba polyphaga in a cooling tower, in Bradford, during the investigation of an unexplained pneumonia outbreak. We later discovered that this was the largest virus ever isolated and later described its 1.2 megabase genome. We also demonstrated that it was the first virus infected by another virus, introducing the first "virophage". In this presentation, we will discuss about current knowledge on amoeba-associated pathogens, especially Mimivirus and other giant viruses.

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