A giant virus, Tupanvirus, contains the fullest set of genes of all viruses.

European scientists have discovered two strains of the giant virus Tupanvirus, according to a recent virological study published in the British journal Nature.
the virus contains the fullest set of genes needed for protein assembly in all known human viruses, as well as the genes needed to assemble all 20 amino acids into proteins, to understand the evolution of the virus.
giant viruses are so large than most that they were initially considered a bacterium, and it was not confirmed as a virus until 2003. the emergence of
giant viruses has sparked a heated debate in the scientific community about its evolution.
currently, there are two main theories: one is that complex megaviruses evolved by simple ancestors by acquiring genes from infected hosts, and the other that the ancestors of giant viruses may have been giant viruses, and that unwanted genes have been lost over time.
, Bernard Rascola, a researcher at the University of Aix-Marseille in France, and colleagues discovered the giant virus Tupanvirus in samples collected from a alkaline lake and deep-sea sediments in Brazil.
genomic analysis showed that they contained genes similar to those of known viruses and organisms in three life domains (ancient flora, bacterial domains, and eukaryokareconomy).
however, about 30 percent of the gene's homologous genes have not yet been found in other organisms.
researchers found that the giant virus Tupanvirus contains the largest gene set involved in protein assembly and has the genes needed to assemble 20 amino acids into proteins.
the origin of these genes is still unknown.
team concluded that further research is still needed at this stage, but the discovery of the giant virus Tupanvirus has meant that people have taken an important step toward understanding the evolution of the virus.
Source: Science Daily.