Paramecium Bursaria Chlorella Virus-1 (PBCV-1) is the prototype member of the Phycodnaviridae family and shares an ancient ancestor with the Mimivirus. By combining various advanced high resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques we investigate the infectious cycle of the virus. Specifically, we focus on the infections stages where "viral organelles" termed viral factories are generated in the cytoplasm of the host
Infection of diverse viruses results in the formation of highly elaborate cytoplasmic viral factories, in which viral replication and assembly occur. Structural studies of such factories, generated by large DNA viruses such as Vaccinia and Mimivirus highlighted the extreme complexity of these viral assemblies. While we and other groups conducted extensive studies on the structural features of intracellular viral factories generated by large DNA viruses
Mimivirus infection involves morphological changes in Mimivirus-infected cells. We are using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, combined with a high throughput ImageStream approach in order to study the structural rearrangements of the amoebae cytoskeleton during Mimivirus infection.
