Rafivirus A

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Picornavirus
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Rafivirus A is the type species in a new genus, Rafivirus.

A new picornavirus has been found in a Forsten's tortoise (Indotestudo forsteni) (Ng et al., 2015). Tortoise rafivirus A1 is most closely related to the Gallivirus / Kobuvirus / Megrivirus / Oscivirus / Passerivirus / Salivirus supergroup. It is distinct from tortoise picornavirus 1 discovered in Germany (Heuser et al., 2010).

Genome organisation:

VPg+5'UTR^IRES-IV[L/1AB-1C-1D/2A-2B-2C/3A-3B^VPg-3C^pro-3D^pol]3'UTR-poly(A)

Reference

Heuser, W., Kaleta, E., Giesow, K., Keil, G.M. and Knowles, N.J. (2010). Genome sequence of virus “X”, a picornavirus isolated from a spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca). EUROPIC 2010: XVI Meeting of the European Study Group on the Molecular Biology of Picornaviruses, St. Andrews, Scotland, 11-16 September 2010. Abstract H15, p. 147.

Ng, T.F., Wellehan, J.F., Coleman, J.K., Kondov, N.O., Deng, X., Waltzek, T.B., Reuter, G., Knowles, N.J. and Delwart, E. (2015). A tortoise-infecting picornavirus expands the host range of the family Picornaviridae. Arch. Virol. 160(5): 1319-1323.