Family: Malacoherpesviridae (interim)
This is a summary page created by the ICTV Report Editors using information from associated Taxonomic Proposals and the Master Species List.
Edited by: Arvind Varsani, Paola K. Vaz and Thomas B. Waltzek
Posted: November 2024
Summary
The family Malacoherpesviridae includes dsDNA viruses of invertebrates (Table 1 Malacoherpesviridae). The family Malacoherpesviridae was established in 2008 (Master Species List #24).
Table 1 Malacoherpesviridae. Characteristics of members of the family Malacoherpesviridae.
| Characteristic | Description |
| Example | oyster herpesvirus; ostreid herpesvirus 1 (AY509253), species Ostreavirus ostreidmalaco1, genus Ostreavirus |
| Virion | Enveloped, mostly spherical virions of 100–180 nm diameter with an icosahedral capsid |
| Genome | dsDNA of 207.4–211.6 kbp |
| Replication | Nuclear, lytic and latent infections: the pattern of gene expression is not yet established |
| Translation | mRNAs generally encode single proteins and are not spliced |
| Host range | Invertebrates (molluscs) |
| Taxonomy | Realm Duplodnaviria, kingdom Heunggongvirae, phylum Peploviricota, class Herviviricetes, order Herpesvirales: 2 genera, 2 species |
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| Figure 1 Malacoherpesviridae. Transmission electron micrograph of herpesvirus particles in tissues from an ostreid herpesvirus type 1-infected oyster. Negative-staining, 36Kx magnification (bar 500 nm). Image, Supplementary Figure 1 from Abbadi M, Zamperin G, Gastaldelli M, Pascoli F, Rosani U, et al. Identification of a newly described OsHV-1 μvar from the North Adriatic Sea (Italy). J Gen Virol. 2018 9):693-703. |
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| Figure 2 Malacoherpesviridae. Genome organisation of oyster herpesvirus, a member of the family Malacoherpesviridae. Boxes indicate open reading frames as annotated on GenBank accession AY509253. |
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| Figure 3 Malacoherpesviridae. Relationships of the taxa connected to the family Malacoherpesviridae. Labels in the column to the right are species names. |
Derivation of names
Aurivirus: from the Latin for “ear” (auris) and secondarily from the Latin word for “gold” (aurum), to reflect a common name for abalones (ear-shell) and the shiny, iridescent layer of nacre on the inside of the shell
Malacoherpesviridae: from the Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós), meaning ‘soft’ and used in zoology to denote molluscs, and the Ancient Greek: ἕρπης (hérpō), which is related to the meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
Ostreavirus: from the Latin “ostrea”, meaning ‘oyster’