Jingchuvirales: a New Taxonomical Framework for a Rapidly Expanding Order of Unusual Monjiviricete Viruses Broadly Distributed among Arthropod Subphyla

Abstract

Technical advances in metagenomics and metatranscriptomics have dramatically accelerated virus discovery in recent years. "Chuviruses"were first described in 2015 as obscure negative-sense RNA viruses of diverse arthropods. Although "chuviruses"first appeared to be members of the negarnaviricot order Mononegavirales in phylogenetic analyses using RNA-directed RNA polymerase sequences, further characterization revealed unusual gene orders in genomes that are nonsegmented, segmented, and/or possibly circular. Consequently, a separate order, Jingchuvirales, was established to include a monospecific family, Chuviridae. Recently, it has become apparent that jingchuvirals are broadly distributed and are therefore likely of ecological and economic importance. Here, we describe recent and ongoing efforts to create the necessary taxonomic framework to accommodate the expected flood of novel viruses belonging to the order.