title: A new member of the family Totiviridae associated with arboreal ants (Camponotus nipponicus).
abstract: A putative new member of the family Totiviridae was identified in arboreal ants (Camponotus nipponicus). The viral dsRNA consisted of 5,713 nt with two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes a putative capsid protein. ORF2 encodes a viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). ORF2 could be translated as a fusion protein with the ORF1 product through a -1 frameshift in the overlapping ORF1. Phylogenetic analysis based on the RdRp revealed that the virus from C. nipponicus is closely related to Camponotus yamaokai virus, a member of the family Totiviridae, from another ant species. The name Camponotus nipponicus virus (CNV) is proposed for the new virus.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. skoyama@cc.tuat.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Cathleen E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nunoura
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Syun-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Urayama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000821:virology*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D019196:Totiviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins