Pandoraviruses Are Not Alive
Pandoraviruses seemingly have the ability to produce an electrical potential across their membrane, a feature that is typically only associated with living cells.
mitochondrion
A lytic bacterium that behaves like a virus
What do you call a small bacterium that acts like a virus, infecting and lysing eukaryotic cells? Chromulinavvorax destructans, of course! As part of a study to identify pathogens that infect protist zooplankton, particles smaller than 0.8 microns were obtained from freshwater habitats in southwestern British Columbia, and used to infect cultures of protists.