The genus Reptarenavirus includes viruses of the family Arenaviridae , which were first isolated in 2012 from idol snakes ( Boa constrictor ) in captivity, later also from other boas and pythons . The exact taxonomic assignment of the individual isolates is uncertain and in 2014 three different species were provisionally proposed (snake reptarena virus 1 to 3). Since boas and pythons belong to the superfamily real snakes ( Alethinophidia ), the virus species are also known as Alethinophid reptarenavirus . The Reptarenaviren are the agents of the inclusion body of the giant snakes . The name is derived from the virus family and the occurrence in Rept ily ; Until they were discovered, arenaviruses had only been described in mammals. Simultaneously with this new genus, the genus Mammarenavirus was created for the previous arenaviruses in mammals.
Like all arenaviruses, the reptarenaviruses have a genome that is divided into two segments and consists of two strands of a single-stranded RNA. The RNA has negative and positive stranded polarity ( ambisense ). The segments are about 7 and 3.5 Kb long. They are characterized by an extremely high genetic variability due to the formation of quasi-species within a host organism. The differentiation of subtypes and quasi-species (including newly recombined isolates after co-infection with several reptarena viruses) to individual defined species is currently still difficult.
SR Radoshitzky et al .: Past, present, and future of arenavirus taxonomy . Arch. Virol. (2015) 160 (7): pp. 1851-1874 PMID 25935216
J. Hepojoki et al .: Arenavirus Coinfections Are Common in Snakes with Boid Inclusion Body Disease . J. Virol. (2015) 89 (16): pp. 8657-8660 PMID 26041290
U. Hetzel et al .: Reply to "Updated phylogenetic analysis of arenaviruses detected in boid snakes" . J. Virol. (2014) 88 (2): p. 1401 PMID 24379419
↑ MD Stenglein et al .: Identification, characterization, and in vitro culture of highly divergent arenaviruses from boa constrictors and annulated tree boas: candidate etiological agents for snake inclusion body disease. MBio. (2012) 3 (4): e00180-12 PMID 22893382
^ R. Bodewes et al .: Detection of novel divergent arenaviruses in boid snakes with inclusion body disease in The Netherlands. J. Gen. Virol. (2013) 94 (6): pp. 1206-1210 PMID 23468423
