ICTV Report
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)
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.
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.
Figure 3 Lipothrixviridae. Taxonomy of the family Lipothrixviridae.
Derivation of name
Lipothrixviridae: from the Greek, lipothrix meaning "fat hair".