''Bottigliavirus'' is the only genus in the family ''Ampullaviridae'' and contains 3 species. ''Ampullaviridae'' infect

archaea Archaea ( ) is a Domain (biology), domain of organisms. Traditionally, Archaea only included its Prokaryote, prokaryotic members, but this has since been found to be paraphyletic, as eukaryotes are known to have evolved from archaea. Even thou ...

of the genus '' Acidianus''. The name of the family and genus 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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word for bottle, ''ampulla'', due to the

virion A virion (plural, ''viria'' or ''virions'') is an inert virus particle capable of invading a Cell (biology), cell. Upon entering the cell, the virion disassembles and the genetic material from the virus takes control of the cell infrastructure, t ...

s having the shape of a

bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...

. The family was first described during an investigation of the microbial flora of

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

s in Italy.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Bottigliavirus'' contains the following species, listed by scientific name and followed by the exemplar virus of the species: * ''Bottigliavirus krisuvikense'', Acidianus bottle-shaped virus 3 (ABV3) * ''Bottigliavirus pozzuoliense'', Acidianus bottle-shaped virus (ABV) * ''Bottigliavirus puteoliense'', Acidianus bottle-shaped virus 2 (ABV2)

Structure and genome

Ampullaviruses have unique morphology, with the virions being bottle-shaped with one narrow end that smoothly expands into a wider end for an overall length of about 230 nm and width of about 75 nm at the broad end. The narrow end projects beyond the

viral envelope A viral envelope is the outermost layer of many types of viruses. It protects the genetic material in their life cycle when traveling between host cells. Not all viruses have envelopes. A viral envelope protein or E protein is a protein in the en ...

and is likely used to inject the viral DNA into host cells. The broad end possesses about 20 thin filaments, each that are regularly distributed in a ring. Inside the envelope is a funnel-shaped protein coat that houses the viral DNA.The genome of ampullaviruses is linear, double-stranded DNA that is about 23.8

kilobase A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

s in length. The genome contains an estimated 56 or 57 open reading frames that encode for at least six structural proteins.

Life cycle

Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by virus attaches to host cell. DNA-templated transcription is the method of transcription.

Archaea Archaea ( ) is a Domain (biology), domain of organisms. Traditionally, Archaea only included its Prokaryote, prokaryotic members, but this has since been found to be paraphyletic, as eukaryotes are known to have evolved from archaea. Even thou ...

of the genus ''Acidianus'' serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are passive diffusion.

References

External links

* ICTV Online Report: ''Ampullaviridae'

* Viral zone

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4748567 Ampullaviridae, Archaeal viruses Virus families