Ortervirales: New Virus Order Unifying Five Families of Reverse-Transcribing Viruses

Abstract

Reverse-transcribing viruses, which synthesize a copy of genomic DNA from an RNA template, are widespread in animals, plants, algae, and fungi ([1][1], [2][2]). This broad distribution suggests the ancient origin(s) of these viruses, possibly concomitant with the emergence of eukaryotes ([3][3]).