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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403961
Research Project: Sustainable Insect Pest Management for Urban Agriculture and Landscapes

Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory

Title: Developments in the classification and nomenclature of arthropod-infecting large DNA viruses that contain pif genes.

Author
item VAN OERS, MONIQUE - Wageningen University
item HERNIOU, ELISABETH - Universite De Tours
item JEHLE, JOHANNES - Julius Kuhn Institute
item KRELL, PETER - University Of Guelph
item ABD-ALLA, ADLY M - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
item THEILMANN, DAVID - Agri Food - Canada
item RIBEIRO, BERGMANN - University Of Brasilia
item HU, ZHIHONG - Wuhan University
item Harrison, Robert - Bob

Submitted to: Archives of Virology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2023
Publication Date: 6/14/2023
Citation: Van Oers, M.M., Herniou, E.A., Jehle, J.A., Krell, P.J., Abd-Alla, A.M., Theilmann, D.A., Ribeiro, B.M., Hu, Z., Harrison, R.L. 2023. Developments in the classification and nomenclature of arthropod-infecting large DNA viruses that contain pif genes. Archives of Virology. 168. Article e182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-023-05793-8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-023-05793-8

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Viruses of four families of arthropod-specific, large dsDNA viruses (the nuclear arthropod large DNA viruses, or NALDVs) possess homologs of genes encoding conserved components of a baculovirus host midgut cell infection mechanism. The presence of homologs encoding so called per os infectivity factors (pif genes) along with their absence from other viruses, and the occurrence of other shared characteristics, suggest a common origin for the viruses of these families. Therefore, the class Naldaviricetes was recently created for these four families. In addition, within this class the ICTV approved the creation of the order Lefavirales, for three of these families, whose members carry homologs of the baculovirus genes that code for components of the viral RNA polymerase, responsible for (very) late gene expression. We further set-up a system for the binominal naming of all virus species in the order Lefavirales, based on a decision taken by the ICTV in 2019. The binominal species names now starts with the name of the genus to which the species belongs (e.g. Alphabaculovirus), followed by a single epithet that refers to the original host species from which the virus was originally isolated. Viral species names need to be written in italics. The common names of virus isolates and the abbreviations thereof will not change and these common names are written in normal font over their entire length.