Barnaviruses (Barnaviridae)

Authors:

• Revill, Peter A.

Details:

Encyclopedia of Virology, 2021-12-31

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The Barnaviridae is a family of single-stranded, positive-sense RNA mycoviruses consisting of one member- the barnavirus mushroom bacilliform virus (MBV). This virus infects the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus and has a 4009-nucleotide genome. Deep sequencing studies have recently identified another putative barnavirus, termed Rhizoctonia solani barnavirus 1 (RsBarV1; KP900904), although the classification of this virus is yet to be ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. In turn, examination of public GenBank databases using BLAST search algorithms has identified another near-complete virus sequence with a high degree of similarity to both BsBarV1 and MBV, named Colobanthus quitensis associated barnavirus 1 (CqABV1), detected in the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis. If ratified, this would be the first barnavirus identified from a plant species, although it is unknown if the viral sequence was derived from C. quitensis itself, or an associated unidentified fungus. Virus characterization studies, including identification of a bacilliform virus particle, are required to determine if these newly identified sequences are true barnavirus genomes.