Victorivirus, a new genus of fungal viruses in the family Totiviridae

The family Totiviridae comprises viruses with nonsegmented dsRNA genomes and isometric virions. A new genus, Victorivirus, has been approved for this family, named from the specific epithet of Helminthosporium victoriae, host of the type species, Helminthosporium victoriae virus 190S. Distinguishing characteristics of the 11 viruses so far assigned to this genus include infection of filamentous fungi, an apparently coupled termination-reinitiation mechanism for translating the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase as a separate product from the upstream capsid protein, and sequence-based phylogenetic grouping in a distinct clade from other family members.