title: A tortoise-infecting picornavirus expands the host range of the family Picornaviridae.
abstract: While picornaviruses can cause diseases in many mammals, little is known of their host range for replication in non-mammalian vertebrates. Here, a picornavirus in liver and kidney tissues from diseased Sulawesi tortoises (Indotestudo forsteni) was genetically characterized. Tortoise rafivirus A (ToRaV-A, KJ415177) represents a potential new genus in the family Picornaviridae, for which we propose the name "Rafivirus". Our finding confirms the susceptibility of reptiles to picornaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA, terryfeifan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Terry Fei Fan
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: James F X
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wellehan
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Nikola O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Kondov
authors.forename: Xutao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Waltzek
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: Nick J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Knowles
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delwart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D043344:Chordata / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D058507:Host Specificity; D007668:Kidney / Q000821:virology; D008099:Liver / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral