Three clinical isolates of Acanthamoeba (A. castellanii, A. polyphaga, and A. mauritaniensis) were used to evaluate the cysticidal activity of four different contact lens multi-purpose solutions (Complete Protec, ReNu MultiPlus, Solocare Aqua, and Opti-free Aldox). Enumeration of amoebic was carried out with the control and test samples at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 24 hours after being added to th...

Coleoptera (beetles) is the most species-rich metazoan order, with approximately 380 000 species. To understand how they came to be such a diverse group, we compile a database of global fossil beetle occurrences to study their macroevolutionary history. Our database includes 5553 beetle occurrences from 221 fossil localities. Amber and lacustrine deposits preserve most of the beetle diversity a...

The giant virus Mimiviridae family includes 3 groups of viruses: group A (includes Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus), group B (includes Moumouvirus) and group C (includes Megavirus chilensis). Virophages have been isolated with both group A Mimiviridae (the Mamavirus strain) and the related Cafeteria roenbergensis virus, and they have also been described by bioinformatic analysis of the Phycodn...

To investigate circulation of mimiviruses in the Amazon Region of Brazil, we surveyed 513 serum samples from domestic and wild mammals. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in 15 sample pools, and mimivirus DNA was detected in 9 pools of serum from capuchin monkeys and in 16 pools of serum from cattle.

8. Schroeder JM, Booton GC, Hay J, Niszl IA, Seal DV, Markus MB, et al. Use of subgenic 18S ribosomal DNA PCR and sequencing for genus and genotype identifi cation of acanthamoebae from humans with keratitis and from sewage sludge. J Clin Microbiol. 2001;39:1903–11. doi:10.1128/JCM.39.5.1903-1911.2001 9. Stothard DR, Schroeder-Diedrich JM, Awwad MH, Gast RJ, Ledee DR, Rodriguez-Zaragoza S, et a...

5 Patricia Renesto, Chantal Abergel, Philippe Decloquement, Danielle Moinier, Saïd 6 Azza, Hiroyuki Ogata, Patrick Fourquet, Jean-Pierre Gorvel, Jean-Michel Claverie 7 and Didier Raoult 8 9 10 From the Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR-48, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Boulevard 11 Jean Moulin, the Information Génomique & Structurale, CNRS UPR 2589, IBSM, Parc 12 scientifique et technologique...

What is a virus? Are viruses alive? Should they be classified among microorganisms? One would expect these simple questions to have been settled a century after the discovery of the first viral disease. For years, modern virology successfully unravelled the huge diversity of viruses in terms of genetic material, replication mechanism, pathogenicity, host infection, and more recently particle st...

Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus is the largest known virus in both particle size and genome complexity. Its 1.2-Mb genome encodes 911 proteins, among which only 298 have predicted functions. The composition of purified isolated virions was analyzed by using a combined electrophoresis/mass spectrometry approach allowing the identification of 114 proteins. Besides the expected major structural c...