Aeropyrum Pernix Bacilliform Virus

This is the first virus to be described of the genus Aeropyrum and the archaeal order Desulfurococcales. The virion of APBV1 has rigid bacilliform morphology, about 140 × 20 nm, with one end pointed and the other rounded. It contains highly glycosylated single major protein and three minor proteins. The circular, double-stranded DNA genome comprising 5278 bp is the smallest for known archaeal viruses. None of the 14 putative genes, all on the same DNA strand, shows significant similarity to sequences in the public databases.