Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 41518554
Link to DOI – 10.1007/s00705-025-06500-5
Arch Virol 2026 Jan; 171(2): 50
The order Martellivirales currently comprises seven families of positive-strand (+) RNA viruses, namely, Bromoviridae, Closteroviridae, Endornaviridae, Kitaviridae, Mayoviridae, Togaviridae, and Virgaviridae, that infect a range of animals, fungi, and plants. These viruses display remarkably diverse virions built from non-homologous capsid proteins but are unified through homologous alphavirus-like replication module. Here, we introduce an additional family in the order Martellivirales, with the proposed name “Tobaliviridae”, to accommodate an emerging group of viruses reported from fungi. This family includes a single genus, “Tobalivirus”, with nine species. Tobaliviruses share a capsid protein homologous to those of closteroviruses, potyviruses and alphaflexiviruses, and consistently, some members of the family have been demonstrated to form flexible filamentous virions. The formal taxonomic proposal for the establishment of the family “Tobaliviridae” is awaiting ratification by the International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).