BRANFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Using the Genome Sequencer System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche company, French scientists have identified a small virus that can actually be parasitic to a larger one. The 50 nm virus, named Sputnik, is associated with a new strain of the giant Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus (APMV) and is believed to represent a currently unknown family of viruses. The study, entitled “The virophage as a unique parasite of the giant mimivirus,” appeared in the September 4th issue of Nature (1).
