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Picornavirales
Encyclopedia
The Picornavirales are an order of virus
es with vertebrate
, insects and plant
hosts.
This group consists of viruses which have (+) sense single stranded RNA genomes.
Five families within this group - Caliciviridae, Dicistroviridae, Picornaviridae, Potyviridae and Sequiviridae share a number of common features:
It has been suggested that the evolution of these viruses may have preceded the separation of eukaryote
s into the extant crown groups.
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
es with vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
, insects and plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
hosts.
This group consists of viruses which have (+) sense single stranded RNA genomes.
Five families within this group - Caliciviridae, Dicistroviridae, Picornaviridae, Potyviridae and Sequiviridae share a number of common features:
- conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
- genome has a protein attached to the 5' end
- no overlapping open reading frames within the genome
- all the RNAs are translated into a polyprotein before processing
It has been suggested that the evolution of these viruses may have preceded the separation of eukaryote
Eukaryote
A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes may more formally be referred to as the taxon Eukarya or Eukaryota. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear...
s into the extant crown groups.
External links
- ICTV Virus Taxonomy 2009 http://www.ictvonline.org
- UniProt Taxonomy http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/675063