Family: Alloherpesviridae (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: Arvind Varsani, Paola K. Vaz and Thomas B. Waltzek
Posted: November 2024

Summary

The family Alloherpesviridae includes dsDNA viruses of vertebrates (Table 1 Alloherpesviridae). The family Alloherpesviridae was established in 2008 (Master Species List #24).

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

CharacteristicDescription
Examplechannel catfish virus; ictalurid herpesvirus 1 (M75136), species Ictavirus ictaluridallo1, genus Ictavirus
VirionEnveloped, pleomorphic, mostly spherical particles of 150–200 nm diameter with an icosahedral capsid
GenomedsDNA of 134.2–295.2 kbp
ReplicationNuclear; lytic and latent infections: DNA-templated transcription is temporally co-ordinated (immediate early: early, late gene expression)
TranslationmRNAs generally encode single proteins and most are not spliced (exceptions include the large subunit of the terminase and the catalytic subunit of the DNA polymerase)
Host rangeVertebrates (fish and amphibians)
TaxonomyRealm Duplodnaviria, kingdom Heunggongvirae, phylum Peploviricota, class Herviviricetes, order Herpesvirales: 4 genera, 13 species
Alloherpesviridae virion
Figure 1 Alloherpesviridae (Left) Electron micrograph of Koi herpesvirus-T. Image from Figure 1 of Bergmann SM, Jin Y, Franzke K, Grunow B, Wang Q, Klafack S. Koi herpesvirus (KHV) and KHV disease (KHVD) - a recently updated overview. J Appl Microbiol. 2020 Jul;129(1):98-103. (Right) Schematic of virion Schematic of virion (image from ViralZone (viralzone.expasy.org, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, credit: SwissBioPics).
Alloherpesviridae genome
Figure 2 Alloherpesviridae. Genome organisation of channel catfish virus, a member of the family Alloherpesviridae. Boxes indicate open reading frames as annotated on GenBank accession M75136.
Alloherpesviridae taxonomy
Figure 3 Alloherpesviridae. Relationships of the taxa connected to the family Alloherpesviridae. Labels in the column to the right are species names.

Derivation of names

Alloherpesviridae: from the Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos), meaning "other" and ἕρπης (hérpō), which is related to the meaning "to creep", referring to spreading blisters; the suffix -viridae for family taxa

Batravirus: shortening of Batrachovirus, from the Greek batrachos, meaning “frog”

Cyvirus: shortening of Cyprinivirus, from the Latin cyprinus, meaning “carp”

Ictavirus: shortening of Ictalurivirus, referring to the Ictaluridae (a family of catfish) from the Latin icatalurus meaning “fish cat”

Salmovirus: shortening of salmonivirus, referring to the Salmonidae (a family of ray-finned fish) from the Latin salmō, meaning salmon