Collapsed form of the large Freesia sneak ophiovirus particle. Negative-contrast electron micrograph (uranyl acetate); bar: 100nm.
Aspiviridae, formerly Ophioviridae, is a family of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses which infect plants. Member viruses are characterized by an elongated and highly filamentous and flexible nucleocapsid with helicalsymmetry.[1] It is a monotypic taxon containing only one genus, Ophiovirus. Aspiviridae is also the only family in the order Serpentovirales, which in turn is the only order in the class Milneviricetes.[2]
History
The name Aspiviridae derives from the Latinaspis (snake or viper), referring to the shape, along with the suffix for a virus family -viridae.[3]Ophiovirus derives from the Ancient Greekophis, "snake", with –virus the suffix for a virus genus.[4] Likewise, Serpentovirales is from "serpent" with -virales the suffix for a virus order.[3]Milneviricetes is in honor of Robert G. Milne, the last author on the first paper describing ophioviruses.[3][5]
Virology
Structure
The protein capsid is non-enveloped and has a constant diameter of 1500–2500nm and a width of 3nm, or 9nm. The capsids form kinked circles, which can collapse to form linear duplex structures, much like a spring.[2]
The family has one genus, Ophiovirus, which has eight recognized species. Members of both the family and the genus are referred to as ophioviruses.[2]Ophiovirus contains the following species, listed by scientific name and followed by the exemplar virus of the species:[7]
↑García, María Laura; Bó, Elena Dal; da Graça, John V.; Gago-Zachert, Selma; Hammond, John; Moreno, Pedro; Natsuaki, Tomohide; Pallás, Vicente; Navarro, Jose A.; Reyes, Carina A.; Luna, Gabriel Robles; Sasaya, Takahide; Tzanetakis, Ioannis E.; Vaira, Anna María; Verbeek, Martin (21 June 2017). "ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Ophioviridae". Journal of General Virology. 98 (6): 1161–1162. doi:10.1099/jgv.0.000836. PMC5656789. PMID28635587.
↑ICTVdB Management (2006). 00.094.0.01. Ophiovirus. In: ICTVdB—The Universal Virus Database, version 4. Büchen-Osmond, C. (Ed), Columbia University, New York, USA.
