Papovaviridae

Papovaviridae /Pa·po·va·vi·ri·dae/ (pah-po?vah-vir´i-de) the papovaviruses: a family of DNA viruses, many of which are oncogenic or potentially oncogenic; it includes two subfamilies, Papillomavirinae and Polyomavirinae.

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Pa·po·va·vir·i·dae (p-pv-vîr-d)

n.

A family of small antigenically distinct viruses, comprising the genera Papillomavirus and Polyomavirus, that replicate in nuclei of infected cells.

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Papovaviridae

a family of viruses containing two genera: Papillomavirus, which cause warts in various species, and Polyomavirus, which cause tumors in rodents (mice, hamsters) and have been extensively studied as models of viral oncogenesis. Virions are icosahedral, 45-55 nm in diameter, naked, ether-resistant and contain a supercoiled circular double-stranded DNA genome of ~8 kilobases.