Coccolithovirus
genus of viruses
Coccolithovirus is a genus of giant double-stranded DNA virus, in the family Phycodnaviridae. Algae, specifically Emiliania huxleyi, a species of coccolithophore,[1] serve as natural hosts. There is only one described species in this genus: Emiliania huxleyi virus 86 (Coccolithovirus huxleyi).
Structure
Coccolithoviruses are enveloped, icosahedral and have a diameter ranging from 100–220 nm. Their genomes are linear, between 410–415kb in length and predict to encode for approximately 472 proteins.
Life cycle
Coccolithoviruses are part of the family of Phycodnaviridae, one of the five families that belong to a large and phylogenetically diverse group of viruses known as nucleocytoplasmic large dsDNA viruses (NCLDVs). These viruses either replicate exclusively in the cytoplasm of the host cell or start their life cycle in the host nucleus but complete it in the cytoplasm. In the case of EhV-86 the infection strategy is not fully understood but Mackinder et al. (2009) have proposed the following model: The virus enters the host cell via endocytosis, followed by fusion of its lipid membrane with the host vacuole membrane and the release of its nucleoprotein core into the cytoplasm. Alternatively the virus membrane could fuse directly with the host plasma membrane.
The public source identifies “Coccolithovirus” as genus of viruses. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Coccolithovirus, genus and viruses.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q962359. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Coccolithovirus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.