HIS1, AN ARCHAEAL VIRUS OF THE FUSELLOVIRIDAE FAMILY THAT INFECTS HALOARCULA HISPANICA

A novel archaeal virus, His1, was isolated from hypersaline waters in southeastern Australia. It was lytic, grew only on Haloarcula hispanica (titers of up to 1011 PFU/ml), and displayed a lemon-shaped morphology (74 by 44 nm) previously reported only for a virus of the extreme thermophiles (SSV1). The density of His1 was approximately 1.28 g/ml, similar to that of SSV1 (1.24 g/ml). Purified particles were resistant to low salt concentrations. The genome was linear, double-stranded DNA of 14.9 kb, similar to the genome of SSV1 (15.5 kb). Morphologically, this isolate clearly belongs to the recently proposed Fuselloviridae family of archaeal viruses. It is the first member of this family from the extremely halophilic archaea, and its host, H. hispanica, can be readily manipulated genetically.