Circular single-stranded DNA viruses represent a diverse group of pathogens that possess a covalently closed, circular single-stranded DNA genome. Their small genomes belie a sophisticated replication ...

A new study examines the evolutionary dynamics of circular Rep-encoding single-stranded (CRESS) DNA viruses. The findings show that this broad class of single-stranded DNA viruses, which infect all ...

Plasmids, small circular DNA molecules found in bacteria, may contain antibiotic-resistance genes and have the ability to replicate independently. Bacteria can transfer these plasmids to one another, ...

Comparing a living cell to a virus is a bit like comparing the Sistine Chapel to a backyard dog house. Lacking the intricate machinery of living cells, viruses represent biology stripped down to an ...

Professor Norikazu Ichihashi and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo have successfully induced gene expression from a DNA, characteristic of all life, and evolution through continuous ...

Geminiviruses are single-stranded DNA viruses that infect a wide variety of plants and cause severe crop losses worldwide. The geminivirus replication initiator protein (Rep) binds to the viral ...

To establish chronic disease, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) must have its genome of relaxed circular DNA (rcDNA) turned into covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). Exactly how rcDNA becomes cccDNA has ...