Family: Nairoviridae

Genus: Shaspivirus

Distinguishing features 

Shāyáng spider virus 1 (SySV-1) is the only known shaspivirus and was detected in spiders. 

Virion

Virions are unknown

Nucleic acid

Based on sequence homology, shaspiviruses have three negative-sense single-stranded RNA segments (Li et al., 2015). 

Genome organization and replication

The S segment encodes the nucleoprotein (N), the M segment encodes the glycoprotein precursor (GPC), and the L segment encodes the large protein (L) containing an RdRP domain (Figure 1. Shaspivirus). 

Figure 1. Shaspivirus.  Schematic representation of shaspivirus genome organization. The 5′- and 3′-ends of each segment (S, M, and L) are, by analogy to other nairoviruses, predicted  to be complementary at their termini (UTR), likely promoting the formation of circular ribonucleoprotein complexes within the virion.

Biology

The original genome sequence of SySV-1 was obtained from brown sailor spiders (Neoscona nautica) (Li et al., 2015). Since no replication competent isolate was obtained, the virus biology is unknown. 

Derivation of names

Shaspivirus: derived from Shāyáng spider virus 1 and virus, suffix for a genus. 

Species demarcation criteria

The genus currently only includes a single species.