Archaeal pleolipoviruses show similarities to bacterial
pleomorphic, enveloped viruses L2 and L172, which
infect mycoplasma Acholeplasma laidlawii cells.
First, these viruses resemble each other morphologically.
Second, L2 and L172 have been observed to
acquire lipids unselectively from the host cell membrane,
as described for pleolipoviruses. As seen
in pleolipoviruses, L2 and L172 also have different genome
types, circular dsDNA and ssDNA, respectively.