Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41315738›Full record

ArticleNature microbiology2026

Widespread and intron-rich mirusviruses are predicted to reproduce in nuclei of unicellular eukaryotes.

Sofia Medvedeva, Ulysse Guyet, Eric Pelletier, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Shinichi Sunagawa, Hiroyuki Ogata, Frank O Aylward, Morgan Gaïa, Natalya Yutin, Eugene V Koonin and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Why did some viruses evolve to be giants while others did not?Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. piRNAs safeguard splicing and RNA fidelity during heat shock.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Sofia Medvedeva *Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR6047, Cell Biology and Virology of Archaea Unit, Paris, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7841-0814
Ulysse Guyet *Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3603-5382
Eric PelletierGénomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4228-1712
Hans-Joachim RuscheweyhDepartment of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7473-6086
Shinichi SunagawaDepartment of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3065-0314
Hiroyuki OgataBioinformatics Center, Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Uji, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6594-377X
Frank O AylwardDepartment of Biological Sciences, Center for Emerging, Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1279-4050
Morgan GaïaGénomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4936-4780
Natalya YutinComputational Biology Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3633-5123
Eugene V KooninComputational Biology Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. koonin@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3943-8299
Mart KrupovicInstitut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR6047, Cell Biology and Virology of Archaea Unit, Paris, France. mart.krupovic@pasteur.fr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5486-0098
Tom O DelmontGénomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France. tomodelmont@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7053-7848

Funding

Coevolutionary Dynamics and Gene Exchange Between Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses and EukaryotesR35GM147290 · NIGMS · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · PI Frank O'Neill Aylward · 2022 to 2026
$1.9M
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) ANR-23-CE02-0022Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) ANR-23-CE02-0025NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM147290
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mirusviruses infect unicellular eukaryotes and are related to tailed bacteriophages and herpesviruses. Here we expand the known diversity of mirusviruses by screening diverse metagenomic assemblies and characterizing 1,202 non-redundant environmental genomes. Mirusviricota comprises a highly diversified phylum of large and giant eukaryotic viruses that rivals the evolutionary scope and functional complexity of nucleocytoviruses. Critically, major Mirusviricota lineages lack essential genes encoding components of the replication and transcription machineries and, concomitantly, encompass numerous spliceosomal introns that are enriched in virion morphogenesis genes. These features point to multiple transitions from cytoplasmic to nuclear reproduction during mirusvirus evolution. Many mirusvirus introns encode diverse homing endonucleases, suggestive of a previously undescribed mechanism promoting the horizontal mobility of spliceosomal introns. Available metatranscriptomes reveal long-range trans-splicing in a virion morphogenesis gene. Collectively, our data strongly suggest that nuclei of unicellular eukaryotes across marine and freshwater ecosystems worldwide are a major niche for replication of intron-rich mirusviruses.

Indexed as

Cell NucleusEukaryotaGiant VirusesIntronsVirus ReplicationEvolution, MolecularGenome, ViralMetagenomicsPhylogeny

Identifiers

PMID41315738
PMCPMC12768974

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.