Book: Lipothrixviridae
Family: Lipothrixviridae (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: Mart Krupovic
Posted: April 2023, updated December 2024
Summary
The family Lipothrixviridae includes double-stranded DNA viruses infecting hyperthermophilic archaea of the order Sulfolobales (Table 1 Lipothrixviridae). The family was established in 1987 (as the family TTV1 group, MSL10), renamed in 1990 (MSL11) and assigned to the realm Adnaviria in 2021 (MSL 36).
Table 1 Lipothrixviridae. Characteristics of members of the family Lipothrixviridae.
| Characteristic | Description |
| Example | Sulfolobus islandicus filamentous virus (AF440571), species Betalipothrixvirus hveragerdiense, genus Betalipothrixvirus |
| Virion | Filamentous, enveloped particle, nucleoprotein core with heterodimeric major capsid proteins (Figure 1 Lipothrixviridae) |
| Genome | Linear, double-stranded DNA genome of 31–40 kbp (Figure 2 Lipothrixviridae) |
| Replication | Cytoplasmic, lytic, virus is enveloped inside the cell and released through pyramidal portals |
| Translation | Not studied |
| Host range | Hyperthermophilic archaea of the order Sulfolobales |
| Taxonomy | Realm Adnaviria, kingdom Zilligvirae, phylum Taleaviricota, class Tokiviricetes, order Ligamenvirales: 3 genera and 10 species (Figure 3 Lipothrixviridae) |
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| Figure 1 Lipothrixviridae. Electron micrograph of purified negatively-stained Sulfolobus filamentous virus 1 virions. Scale bar 200 nm. Image from Liu et al., (2018) "Structural conservation in a membrane-enveloped filamentous virus infecting a hyperthermophilic acidophile." Nat Commun. 2018 9:3360, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. |
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| Figure 2 Lipothrixviridae. Genome organisation of Sulfolobus islandicus filamentous virus, a member of the family Lipothrixviridae. Boxes indicate open reading frames as annotated on the GenBank accession AF440571. |
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| Figure 3 Lipothrixviridae. Taxonomy of the family Lipothrixviridae. |
Derivation of name
Lipothrixviridae: from the Greek, lipothrix meaning "fat hair".