Are Chlorella Viruses a Rich Source of Ion Channel Genes?

Authors

Ming Kang, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Anna Moroni, University of Milan, Italy
Sabrina Gazzarrini, University of Milan, Italy
James L. Van Etten, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2003

Comments

Published in FEBS Letters 552:1 (September 18, 2003), pp. 2-6; doi:10.1016/S0014-5793(03)00775-Copyright © 2003 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. Used by permission.

Abstract

Plaque-forming dsDNA (>330 kb) viruses that infect certain unicellular, eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae contain ~375 protein-encoding genes. These proteins include a 94 amino acid K+ channel protein, called Kcv, as well as two putative ligand-gated ion channels. The viruses also encode other proteins that could be involved in the assembly and/ or function of ion channels, including protein kinases and a phosphatase, polyamine biosynthetic enzymes and histamine decarboxylase.