''Guttaviridae'' is a family of

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's ...

Archaea Archaea ( ; singular archaeon ) is a domain of single-celled organisms. These microorganisms lack cell nuclei and are therefore prokaryotes. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaeba ...

serve as natural hosts. There are two genera in this family, containing one species each. The name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''gutta'', meaning 'droplet'.Mochizuki T, Sako Y, Prangishvili D (2011) Provirus induction in hyperthermophilic Archaea: Characterization of Aeropyrum pernix spindle-shaped virus 1 and Aeropyrum pernix ovoid virus 1. J Bacteriol 193(19):5412–5419Arnold HP, Ziese U and Zillig W (2000). SNDV, a novel virus of the extremely thermophilic and acidophilic archaeon ''Sulfolobus''. Virology 272:409–16.

Taxonomy

The family contains the following genera and species: * '' Alphaguttavirus'' ** ''Sulfolobus newzealandicus droplet-shaped virus'' * '' Betaguttavirus'' ** ''Aeropyrum pernix ovoid virus 1''

Structure

Viruses in the family ''Guttaviridae'' are enveloped. The diameter is around 70–95 nm, with a length of 110–185 nm. Genomes are circular, around 20kb in length. The virons consist of a coat, a core, a nucleocapsid, and projecting fibers at the pointed end. The surface of the

virion A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's ...

has a beehive-like ribbed surface pattern with protrusions that are densely covered by a 'beard' of long fibers at its pointed end. The genome is extremely heavily methylated.

Life cycle

DNA-templated transcription is the method of transcription. Archaea serve as the natural host.

References

External links

ICTV Online Report ''Guttaviridae''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1547201 Archaeal viruses Virus families