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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Microbiology

Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host

  • Carole Duchêne1
  • Rory J. Craig1,2
  • Cláudia Martinho3,1
  • Remy Luthringer1
  • Ferran Agullo1
  • Katharina Hipp1
  • Pedro Escudeiro1
  • Vikram Alva1
  • Fabian B. Haas1
  • Susana M. Coelho4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
  2. 2School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  3. 3Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee's School of Life Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK
  4. 4Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. [email protected]
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Abstract

Endogenous viral elements inserted in host genomes are often regarded as inert relics of past infections. Whether they can retain infective potential and contribute to active viral cycles has remained largely unresolved. Here we demonstrate that giant viral elements in the multicellular alga Ectocarpus can reactivate and drive productive viral infections. Using long-read sequencing and transcriptomics, we identify full-length, transcriptionally active phaeoviruses integrated within the host genome, and we use classical genetics and CRISPR-Cas to demonstrate that these elements are stably inherited through the germline, while their reactivation is precisely regulated by developmental and environmental cues including temperature. We resolve the genomic integration sites and propose a mechanism for phaeovirus integration and replication. Our work provides direct evidence and uncovers the mechanisms by which giant viral elements can reactivate, replicate and transmit both horizontally and vertically in a multicellular eukaryote, establishing a new model of latency, inheritance and evolutionary impact of giant dsDNA viruses.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{duchene2026latent,
  title = {{Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host}},
  author = {Carole Duchêne and Rory J. Craig and Cláudia Martinho and Remy Luthringer and Ferran Agullo and Katharina Hipp and Pedro Escudeiro and Vikram Alva and Fabian B. Haas and Susana M. Coelho},
  journal = {Nature Microbiology},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1038/s41564-026-02361-z},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02361-z},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Latent endogenous giant viruses drive active infection and inheritance in a multicellular algal host
AU  - Carole Duchêne
AU  - Rory J. Craig
AU  - Cláudia Martinho
AU  - Remy Luthringer
AU  - Ferran Agullo
AU  - Katharina Hipp
AU  - Pedro Escudeiro
AU  - Vikram Alva
AU  - Fabian B. Haas
AU  - Susana M. Coelho
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/13
JO  - Nature Microbiology
DO  - 10.1038/s41564-026-02361-z
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02361-z
AB  - Endogenous viral elements inserted in host genomes are often regarded as inert relics of past infections. Whether they can retain infective potential and contribute to active viral cycles has remained largely unresolved. Here we demonstrate that giant viral elements in the multicellular alga Ectocarpus can reactivate and drive productive viral infections. Using long-read sequencing and transcriptomics, we identify full-length, transcriptionally active phaeoviruses integrated within the host genome, and we use classical genetics and CRISPR-Cas to demonstrate that these elements are stably inherited through the germline, while their reactivation is precisely regulated by developmental and environmental cues including temperature. We resolve the genomic integration sites and propose a mechanism for phaeovirus integration and replication. Our work provides direct evidence and uncovers the mechanisms by which giant viral elements can reactivate, replicate and transmit both horizontally and vertically in a multicellular eukaryote, establishing a new model of latency, inheritance and evolutionary impact of giant dsDNA viruses.
SN  - 2058-5276
ER  -