---
title: "Large-scale mining reveals Masuviridae: a new family of plant-associated negative-sense RNA viruses"
id: "biorxiv-20-data-mining-sheds-light-on-a-novel-family-of-plant-associated-negative-sense"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-20-data-mining-sheds-light-on-a-novel-family-of-plant-associated-negative-sense"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "Infectious Disease"
source_name: "bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)"
source_url: "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752651v1?rss=1"
published_at: "2026-09-19T12:00:00.000Z"
evidence_level: "Verified Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# Large-scale mining reveals Masuviridae: a new family of plant-associated negative-sense RNA viruses
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-20-data-mining-sheds-light-on-a-novel-family-of-plant-associated-negative-sense
- **Specialty:** [Infectious Disease](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/infectious-disease.md)
- **Primary Source:** bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752651v1?rss=1)
- **Published At:** 2026-09-19T12:00:00.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- Large-scale mining of public RNA-sequencing datasets uncovered a previously cryptic clade of plant-associated negative-sense RNA viruses, increasing known genomes in this group to 87 assembled sequences from 75 plant hosts. - The newly characterized viruses share a conserved four-cistron genome architecture organized 3'-N-P2-P3-L-5' and are referred to as **lispi-like viruses** in the study. - Structural prediction and analysis assigned functional interpretations to each conserved protein: P1 (N) shows a canonical negative-strand nucleocapsid fold with RNA-interacting residues; P2 is highly divergent with some structures resembling an ITPase/HAM1 fold; P3 forms a conserved trimeric coiled-coil reminiscent of a fusion-protein stalk but lacks canonical membrane glycoprotein sequence signatures; P4 contains a Mononegavirales-type **RdRp** core with invariant catalytic motifs including the GDN signature. - Phylogenetic analyses place this clade as a distinct monophyletic lineage sister to the invertebrate-associated Lispiviridae, supporting a proposed new family, **Masuviridae**, subdivided into 15 tentative genera. - Genus-level clustering correlates with varying host-association patterns, from strong host specialization to broader host ranges across plant species. - Retrospective screening of public sequencing libraries found lispi-like sequences in 1,536 libraries spanning 134 plant species, 11 plant families, and 182 geographic locations, indicating a geographically widespread and substantial cryptic plant virome. - Integration of sequence detection, phylogeny, structural prediction, and host-association mining illustrates an effective pipeline for moving viral dark matter toward evolutionary and functional characterization. - Details on specific genomic sequences, species-level host links, and methodological parameters (e.g., exact detection thresholds or software versions) were not reported in the source summary and thus are not restated here.
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
Large-scale mining of public transcriptomic datasets can reveal viral diversity that remains invisible to conventional virus-surveillance approaches, while increasingly powerful structure-prediction methods provide a complementary route to characterizing highly divergent viral proteins. Here, we combine sequence detection, phylogenetic analysis, structural prediction, and host-association analyses to investigate the cryptic diversity and biology of a new clade of plant-associated lispi-like viruses. Analyses of RNA-sequencing datasets identified and enabled assembly of 87 lispi-like virus genomes associated with 75 plant hosts, expanding the known diversity of this new group by approximately 40-fold. The viruses share a conserved four-cistron genome organization, 3'-N-P2-P3-L-5'. Structural analyses provide functional insights into the four conserved proteins. P1 (N) adopts a canonical negative-strand RNA virus nucleocapsid architecture with conserved RNA-interacting residues and a predicted RNA-packaging configuration. P2 is exceptionally divergent; although a subset of structures resembles the ITPase/HAM1 fold. P3 forms a conserved trimeric coiled-coil architecture reminiscent of a viral fusion-protein stalk, but lacks the family-wide sequence features expected of a canonical membrane glycoprotein. P4 contains a structurally resolved Mononegavirales-type RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase (RdRp) core with invariant catalytic motifs, including the characteristic GDN signature, whereas its accessory regions are substantially more divergent. Phylogenetic insights form a distinct monophyletic lineage sister to the predominantly invertebrate-associated Lispiviridae, supporting their recognition as a new proposed family Masuviridae, comprising 15 tentative genera. Genus-level clustering is accompanied by marked differences in host association, ranging from strong specialization to broader host ranges. Retrospective screening of public sequencing libraries further identified lispi-like virus sequences in 1,536 libraries representing 134 plant species, 11 plant families and 182 geographic locations, highlighting a substantial and geographically widespread cryptic virome. Together, these results establish Masuviridae as a deeply divergent lineage of plant-associated negative-sense RNA viruses and illustrate how the integration of sequence, structural, and large-scale transcriptomic analyses can move viral dark matter from detection towards evolutionary and functional characterization.
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