Zachary Barth

arising from X. Yi et al. Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51936-z (2024) In their recent article ‘Giant viruses as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes’, Yi et al.1 claim that 39.5% of viruses in the phylum Nucleocytoviricota encode antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).

Abstract Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. Here we describe the activity and viral production from a 617 kbp integrated giant viral element in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We resolve the integrated viral region using long-read sequencing and show that viral particles are produced and released in otherwise healthy cultures.