Golden Marseillevirus-like: A NEW AMOEBAL GIANT VIRUS. Golden Marseillevirus

In 2003, giant viruses were first described with the discovery of Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus. In 2007, the Acanthamoeba polyphaga marseillevirus (APMaV) was isolated from water samples collected from a cooling tower in Paris. Such viruses have been found mainly in environmental water samples, are protist-associated and are included in a major monophyletic group known as nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses. Aiming the investigation of the presence of giant viruses in mussels that inhabit the Guaiba Lake, Porto Alegre, Brazil, golden mussels (Limnoperna fortunei were collected .