Family: Orthototiviridae (Interim Report)

This is a summary page created by the ICTV Report Editors using information from associated Taxonomic Proposals and the Master Species List.

Edited by: Holly Hughes, Luisa Rubino, Sead Sabanadzovic
Posted: November 2024, updated December 2024

Summary

The family Orthototiviridae includes dsRNA viruses of protists, fungi, plants and invertebrates (Table 1 Orthototiviridae). The family Orthototiviridae was established in 2023 (Master Species List #39) and includes viruses previously assigned to the now defunct family Totiviridae.

Table 1 Orthototiviridae. Characteristics of members of the family Orthototiviridae.

CharacteristicDescription
ExampleSaccharomyces cerevisiae virus L-A (J04692), species Totivirus ichi, genus Totivirus
VirionNon-enveloped, icosahedral, 40–49 nm diameter (Figure 1 Orthototiviridae)
GenomeSingle dsRNA of 3.9–5.6 kb, uncapped (Figure 2 Orthototiviridae)
ReplicationCytoplasmic, positive and negative strand transcription from dsRNA associated with virion; satellite dsRNAs may be associated with some virus isolates
TranslationFrom mRNA, involves ribosomal slippage and cap snatching
Host rangeProtists, fungi, plants, invertebrates
TaxonomyRealm Riboviria, kingdom Orthornavirae, phylum Duplornaviricota, class Chrymotiviricetes, order Ghabrivirales, suborder Alphatotivirineae: 1 genus, 32 species (Figure 3 Orthototiviridae)

 

Orthototiviridae virion
Figure 1 Orthototiviridae. (Left) Transmission electron micrograph of Saccharomyces cerevisiae virus L-BC (La) Gag VLPs. Scale: 200 nm. Image from Celitan et al., (2024) "Highly stable Saccharomyces cerevisiae L-BC capsids with versatile packing potential." Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 12:1456453 
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (Right) Schematics of virion. Image from ViralZone, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, credit: SwissBioPics.
 
Orthototiviridae genome
Figure 2 Orthototiviridae. Genome organisation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae virus L-A, a member of the family Orthototiviridae. Boxes indicate open reading frames as annotated on GenBank accession J04692. * indicates a ribosome slippage site.
Orthototiviridae taxonomy
Figure 3 Orthototiviridae. Relationships of the taxa connected to the family Orthototiviridae. Labels in the column to the right are species names. Coloured circles indicate the host or source of viruses of a given species: light brown - fungi, grey - invertebrate, green - plant, black – protist.

Derivation of name

Orthototiviridae: from the Ancient Greek ὀρθός (orthos), meaning “correct” or “straight” and the Latin toti, meaning "undivided" or "whole", referring to the mono-segmented dsRNA genome of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa