Family: Carmotetraviridae (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: Jens H. Kuhn
Posted: November 2024
Summary
The family Carmotetraviridae includes ssRNA(+) viruses of invertebrates (Table 1 Carmotetraviridae). The family Carmotetraviridae was established in 2011 (Master Species List #26).
Table 1 Carmotetraviridae. Characteristics of members of the family Carmotetraviridae.
| Characteristic | Description |
| Example | Providence virus (GU991616), species Alphacarmotetravirus providencense, genus Alphacarmotetravirus |
| Virion | Icosahedral, 40 nm diameter, T=4 quasi-symmetry (Figure 1 Carmotetraviridae) |
| Genome | ssRNA(+), 1 linear segment, 6.1–6.2 kb (Figure 2 Carmotetraviridae) |
| Replication | Cytoplasmic, in association with host cell membranes; dsRNA intermediates |
| Translation | From genomic size and subgenomic size mRNAs, involving autoproteolytic cleavage and read-through translation |
| Host range | Invertebrates, generally lepidopteran insect species, possibly mammalian cells and plants; both asymptomatic and persistent infection |
| Taxonomy | Realm Riboviria, kingdom Orthornavirae, phylum Kitrinoviricota, class Tolucaviricetes, order Tolivirales: 1 genus, 1 species (Figure 3 Carmotetraviridae) |
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| Figure 1 Carmotetraviridae. (Top) Electron micrograph of Providence virus. Image from Figure 3 of Jiwaji M, Matcher GF, de Bruyn M-M, Awando JA, Moodley H, et al. Providence virus: An animal virus that replicates in plants or a plant virus that infects and replicates in animal cells? PLoS One 2019;14:e0217494 under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (Bottom) Schematic of virion (image from ViralZone (viralzone.expasy.org) under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, credit: SwissBioPics). |
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| Figure 2 Carmotetraviridae. Genome organisation of Providence virus, a member of the family Carmotetraviridae. Boxes indicate open reading frames as annotated on GenBank accession GU991616. * indicates read-through of a termination codon. |
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| Figure 3 Carmotetraviridae. Relationships of the taxa connected to the family Carmotetraviridae. |
Derivation of names
Carmotetraviridae: from the type of replicase (RdRP) characteristic of carmo-like (from carnation mottle) plant viruses and from the Ancient Greek τετρα (tetra), the Greek cardinal 4, referring to the T=4 capsid architecture of viruses in the family; the suffix -viridae for family taxa
Alphacarmotetravirus: from the Ancient Greek ἄλφα (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Carmotetraviridae