Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg

“Viruses of unicellular eukaryotes: A tale of giants and hyperparasites”

Viruses of protists play important roles in ecology and evolution by influencing microbial population dynamics and shaping eukaryotic genomes by endogenization. Of particular interest are complex DNA viruses whose particle and genome sizes overlap with those of bacteria. In this talk, I will highlight some remarkable properties of these giant viruses and explore their relationship with smaller DNA viruses, called virophages, which can parasitize giant viruses and thus act as an antiviral defense system in certain protist species.