Beyond hepatitis D virus: the discovery of animal deltaviruses, their diversity, helpers and their position in an expanding world of circular RNA replicons
Abstract
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) was long considered a singular human satellite virus that depends on hepatitis B virus (HBV) for envelopment and transmission. Recent metatranscriptomic mining has uncovered a growing diversity of HDV-like viruses, we term deltaviruses, across vertebrates, invertebrates, and environmental samples, overturning assumptions about strict hepatic tropism and obligatory hepadnavirus helpers. Here, we synthesize shared structural and replication principles of deltaviruses: rolling-circle amplification by host polymerases and ribozyme-driven RNA processing. We then discuss emerging models of helper-virus association, including flexible glycoprotein usage and 'Trojan Horse' co-packaging within unrelated virions, and consider implications for tissue tropism, host shifting, and zoonotic potential. Finally, we highlight key priorities for linking sequence discovery to mechanism, ecology, and disease
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BibTeX
@article{denis2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond hepatitis D virus: the discovery of animal deltaviruses, their diversity, helpers and their position in an expanding world of circular RNA replicons}},
author = {Zoé Denis and Valérie Courgnaud and Karim Majzoub},
journal = {Current Opinion in Virology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.coviro.2026.101539},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05753423v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond hepatitis D virus: the discovery of animal deltaviruses, their diversity, helpers and their position in an expanding world of circular RNA replicons
AU - Zoé Denis
AU - Valérie Courgnaud
AU - Karim Majzoub
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
JO - Current Opinion in Virology
DO - 10.1016/j.coviro.2026.101539
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05753423v1
AB - Hepatitis D virus (HDV) was long considered a singular human satellite virus that depends on hepatitis B virus (HBV) for envelopment and transmission. Recent metatranscriptomic mining has uncovered a growing diversity of HDV-like viruses, we term deltaviruses, across vertebrates, invertebrates, and environmental samples, overturning assumptions about strict hepatic tropism and obligatory hepadnavirus helpers. Here, we synthesize shared structural and replication principles of deltaviruses: rolling-circle amplification by host polymerases and ribozyme-driven RNA processing. We then discuss emerging models of helper-virus association, including flexible glycoprotein usage and 'Trojan Horse' co-packaging within unrelated virions, and consider implications for tissue tropism, host shifting, and zoonotic potential. Finally, we highlight key priorities for linking sequence discovery to mechanism, ecology, and disease
SN - 1879-6257
SN - 1879-6265
ER -