Tectiviridae are composed of tailless bacteriophages with an icosahedral capsid and an inner membrane enclosing a double-stranded 15 kb linear DNA genome. Five of the seven previously studied Tectivirus isolates infect bacteria from Bacillus cereus sensu lato group (Betatectivirus), one distantly related member (PRD1) infect Enterobactericeae (Alpatectivirus) and one recently discovered virus infect Gluconobacter cerinus (Gammatectivirus). Here we expand the host spectrum of Betatectivirus elements to four additional genera (Streptococcus, Exiguobacterium, Clostridium and Brevibacillus) and to more distantly related Bacillus species (B. pumilus and B. flexus) by studying the genomes of fourteen novel tectiviral elements. Overall, the genomes show significant conservation in gene synteny and in modules responsible for genome replication and formation of the virion core (including DNA packaging). Notable variation exists in regions encoding host attachment and lysis along with the surrounding area of a site in which mutations are known to alter phage life cycle.

直肠病毒科由具有二十面体衣壳的无尾噬菌体和封闭双链15 kb线性DNA基因组的内膜组成。在先前研究的7种直肠病毒中，有5种是分离自蜡状芽孢杆菌组（Betatectivirus）的感染细菌，1个远亲（PRD1）感染肠杆菌科（Alpatectivirus）和一种最近发现的病毒感染了宫颈葡糖杆菌（Gammatectivirus）。在这里，我们将Betatectivirus元素的宿主谱扩展到另外四个属（链球菌，Exiguobacterium，Clostridium和Brevibacillus），以及与亲缘关系更远的芽孢杆菌通过研究14种新颖的技术病毒基因组的基因组，发现了B. pumilus和B. flexus两种物种。总体而言，基因组在基因同构和负责基因组复制和病毒体核心形成（包括DNA包装）的模块中显示出显着的保守性。在编码宿主附着和裂解的区域以及已知突变会改变噬菌体生命周期的位点周围区域，存在明显的变异。