Medusavirus
Medusavirus
Type of virus
Medusavirus is a nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus first isolated from a Japanese hot spring in 2019.[1] It notably encodes all five types of histones — H1, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 — which are involved in DNA packaging in eukaryotes, raising the possibility that they may have been involved in the origin of eukaryotes.[1] The virus can harden amoebas of the species Acanthamoeba castellanii into stone-like cysts, but infection usually causes infected amoebas to burst open.[2] The virus was named after Medusa, the monster in Greek mythology whose gaze turned people to stone.[2]