Infection cycle and phylogeny of a Polinton-like-virus virophage infecting Phaeocystis globosa

Virophages are small dsDNA viruses dependent on a nucleocytoplasmic large-DNA virus infection of a cellular host for replication. Putative virophages infecting algal hosts are classified together with Polinton-like viruses, transposable elements widely found in algal genomes, yet the lack of isolated strains raises questions about their existence as independent entities. We isolated and characterized a virophage (PgVV-14T) co-infecting Phaeocystis globosa with the Phaeocystis globosa virus-14T (PgV-14T).