Ranavirus
| Ranavirus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Transmission electron micrograph of ranaviruses (dark hexagons) gathering at the cell border and leaving the cell via a process called "budding". | |
| Virus classification | |
| Group: | Group I (dsDNA) |
| Order: | Incertae sedis |
| Family: | Iridoviridae |
| Genus: | Ranavirus |
| Type Species | |
Ranavirus is a genus of viruses, in the family Iridoviridae. There are four other genera of viruses within the family Iridoviridae, but Ranavirus is the only one that includes viruses that are infectious to amphibians and reptiles. Additionally, it is one of the three genera within this family which infect teleost fishes, along with Lymphocystivirus and Megalocytivirus. The family Iridoviridae is one of the five families of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses.
The Ranaviruses, like the Megalocytiviruses, are an emerging group of closely related dsDNA viruses which cause systemic infections in a wide variety of wild and cultured fresh and saltwater fishes. As with Megalocytiviruses, Ranavirus outbreaks are therefore of considerable economic importance in aquaculture, as epizootics can result in moderate fish loss or mass mortality events of cultured fishes. Unlike Megalocytiviruses, however, Ranavirus infections in amphibians have been implicated as a contributing factor in the global decline of amphibian populations. The impact of Ranaviruses on amphibian populations has been compared to the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the causative agent of chytridiomycosis.
Rana is derived from the Latin for "frog", reflecting the first isolation of a Ranavirus in 1960s from the Northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens).
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