ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Dicistroviridae

Abstract

Dicistroviridae is a family of small non-enveloped viruses with monopartite, linear, positive-sense RNA genomes of approximately 8-10 kb. Viruses of all classified species infect arthropod hosts, with some having devastating economic consequences, such as acute bee paralysis virus in domesticated honeybees and taura syndrome virus in shrimp farming. Conversely, the host specificity and other desirable traits exhibited by several members of this group make them potential natural enemies for intentional use against arthropod pests, such as triatoma virus against triatomine bugs that vector Chagas disease. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the taxonomy of the Dicistroviridae which is available at www.ictv.global/report/dicistroviridae.

Fig. 1.

(a) Diagram illustrating the packing of dicistrovirus surface proteins VP1, VP2 and VP3. Renderings (courtesy of A. E. Mechaly) of (b) triatoma virus, (c) Israeli acute bee paralysis virus and (d) cricket paralysis virus (colour scale indicates distance from the particle centre). (e) Negative contrast electron micrograph of purified triatoma virus (courtesy of G. A. Marti).

Fig. 2.

Genome structure of cricket paralysis virus. The RNA genome contains two non-overlapping ORFs separated by an IGR. The 5′ proximal ORF encodes the non-structural proteins: RNA helicase (Hel), cysteine protease (Pro) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). The structural proteins are encoded by the 3′-proximal ORF.