RNA virus
Subclass of viruses / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An RNA virus is a virus—other than a retrovirus—that has ribonucleic acid (RNA) as its genetic material.[1] The nucleic acid is usually single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) but it may be double-stranded (dsRNA).[2] Notable human diseases caused by RNA viruses include the common cold, influenza, SARS, MERS, COVID-19, Dengue virus, hepatitis C, hepatitis E, West Nile fever, Ebola virus disease, rabies, polio, mumps, and measles.
Parts of this article (those related to taxonomy in baltimore sections [ICTV release 2018b→2019]) need to be updated. (January 2021) |
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) classifies RNA viruses as those that belong to Group III, Group IV or Group V of the Baltimore classification system. This category excludes Group VI, viruses with RNA genetic material but which use DNA intermediates in their life cycle: these are called retroviruses,[3] including HIV-1 and HIV-2 which cause AIDS.
As of May 2020, all known RNA viruses encoding an RNA-directed RNA polymerase are believed to form a monophyletic group, known as the realm Riboviria.[4] The majority of such RNA viruses fall into the kingdom Orthornavirae and the rest have a positioning not yet defined.[5] The realm does not contain all RNA viruses: Deltavirus, Asunviroidae, and Pospiviroidae are taxa of RNA viruses that were mistakenly included in 2019,[lower-alpha 1] but corrected in 2020.[6]