Distinguishing features

Some members of the genus are detected on the skin such as human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6) and human polyomavirus 7 (HPyV7) while other members of the genus are detected in the gastrointestinal tract, such as MW polyomavirus (MWPyV) and STL polyomavirus (STLPyV).

Virion

See discussion under family description.

Genome organization and replication

See discussion under family description.

Biology

See discussion under family description.

Species demarcation criteria

1. Sufficient information on the natural host
2. Observed genetic distance from a member of the most closely related species is >15% nucleotide difference for the LTAg coding sequence
3. When two polyomaviruses exhibit <15% observed genetic distance (as defined above), biological properties may be of additional critical importance (e.g. host specificity, disease association, tissue tropism, etc.)

Member species

Virus names, the choice of exemplar isolates, and virus abbreviations, are not official ICTV designations.