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1 July 2007

Volume 45, Number 1
Clinical Infectious Diseases 2007;45:95–102
© 2007 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
1058-4838/2007/4501-0019$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/518608
EMERGING INFECTIONS INVITED ARTICLE

The Discovery and Characterization of Mimivirus, the Largest Known Virus and Putative Pneumonia Agent

Didier Raoult,1

Bernard La Scola,1 and

Richard Birtles1,2

1Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerrannée, Marseille, France; and 2Centre for Comparative Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, Cheshire, United Kingdom

During recent years, the usefulness of amoebal co‐cultures as an alternative means of isolating and cultivating fastidious microorganisms has been increasingly recognized. While characterizing a collection of bacteria that had been isolated using this approach, we encountered an organism that, on preliminary analysis, appeared to be a gram‐positive coccus. However, additional examination revealed that it was not a bacterium but rather, surprisingly, a virus. The dimensions of the virus particle (diameter, 0.8 μm) and its genome size (1.2 Mb) are far more akin to those of bacteria than to those of previously recognized viruses. These characteristics, together with such features as the breadth and complexity of its gene content, challenge the current definition of a “virus.” Furthermore, the virus, now named “Mimivirus,” has been implicated as an agent of pneumonia in humans and, thus, should be considered a putative emerging pathogen.

Received 11 December 2006; accepted 5 March 2007; electronically published 21 May 2007.

Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Didier Raoult, Unité des Rickettsies, UPRESA 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerrannée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, Marseille, 13385 Cedex 05, France ().

James M. Hughes and Mary E. Wilson, Section Editors

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