Organic Lake virophage is a double stranded DNA virophage (a virus that requires the presence of another virus to replicate itself and in so doing limits the other viruses ability to replicate). It was isolated from Organic Lake

Organic Lake

Organic Lake is a lake in the Vestfold Hills in eastern Antarctica. It was formed 6,000 years ago when sea levels were higher; it is isolated, rather shallow , meromictic, a few hundred meters in diameter and has extremely salty water...

, Antarctica.

Virology

The virus appears to be ~100 nanometers in diameter and to be enveloped.

The genome is double stranded DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 and is 26,421 base pairs in length.

It encodes 38 protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

s. These include the major coat protein, a DNA packaging ATPase

ATPase

ATPases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of adenosine triphosphate into adenosine diphosphate and a free phosphate ion. This dephosphorylation reaction releases energy, which the enzyme harnesses to drive other chemical reactions that would not otherwise occur...

, a putative DNA polymerase

DNA polymerase

A DNA polymerase is an enzyme that helps catalyze in the polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides into a DNA strand. DNA polymerases are best known for their feedback role in DNA replication, in which the polymerase "reads" an intact DNA strand as a template and uses it to synthesize the new strand....

/primase

Primase

DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA.Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA template...

 and a N6 adenine specific DNA methyltransferase

Methyltransferase

A methyltransferase is a type of transferase enzyme that transfers a methyl group from a donor to an acceptor.Methylation often occurs on nucleic bases in DNA or amino acids in protein structures...

.