Papillomaviridae

Papillomaviridae
Electron micrograph of papillomavirus, scale bar 70 nm
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Monodnaviria
Kingdom:	Shotokuvirae
Phylum:	Cossaviricota
Class:	Papovaviricetes
Order:	Zurhausenvirales
Family:	Papillomaviridae
Subfamilies and genera
Firstpapillomavirinae Alphapapillomavirus Betapapillomavirus Gammapapillomavirus Deltapapillomavirus Epsilonpapillomavirus Zetapapillomavirus Etapapillomavirus Thetapapillomavirus Iotapapillomavirus Kappapapillomavirus Lambdapapillomavirus Mupapillomavirus Nupapillomavirus Xipapillomavirus Omikronpapillomavirus Pipapillomavirus Rhopapillomavirus Sigmapapillomavirus Taupapillomavirus Upsilonpapillomavirus Phipapillomavirus Chipapillomavirus Psipapillomavirus Omegapapillomavirus Dyodeltapapillomavirus Dyoepsilonpapillomavirus Dyozetapapillomavirus Dyoetapapillomavirus Dyothetapapillomavirus Dyoiotapapillomavirus Dyokappapapillomavirus Dyolambdapapillomavirus Dyomupapillomavirus Dyonupapillomavirus Dyoxipapillomavirus Dyoomikronpapillomavirus Dyopipapillomavirus Dyorhopapillomavirus Dyosigmapapillomavirus Dyotaupapillomavirus Dyoupsilonpapillomavirus Dyophipapillomavirus Dyochipapillomavirus Dyopsipapillomavirus Dyoomegapapillomavirus Treisdeltapapillomavirus Treisepsilonpapillomavirus Treiszetapapillomavirus Treisetapapillomavirus Treisthetapapillomavirus Treisiotapapillomavirus Treiskappapapillomavirus Secondpapillomavirinae Alefpapillomavirus

Papillomaviridae is a family of non-enveloped DNA viruses whose members are known as papillomaviruses.^[1] Several hundred species of papillomaviruses, traditionally referred to as "types",^[2] have been identified infecting all carefully inspected mammals,^[2] but also other vertebrates such as birds, snakes, turtles and fish.^[3][4][5] Infection by most papillomavirus types, depending on the type, is either asymptomatic (e.g. most Beta-PVs) or causes small benign tumors, known as papillomas or warts (e.g. human papillomavirus 1, HPV6 or HPV11). Papillomas caused by some types, however, such as human papillomaviruses 16 and 18, carry a risk of becoming cancerous.^[6]

Papillomaviruses are usually considered as highly host- and tissue-tropic, and are thought to rarely be transmitted between species.^[7] Papillomaviruses replicate exclusively in the basal layer of the body surface tissues. All known papillomavirus types infect a particular body surface,^[2] typically the skin or mucosal epithelium of the genitals, anus, mouth, or airways.^[8] For example, human papillomavirus (HPV) type 1 tends to infect the soles of the feet, and HPV type 2 the palms of the hands, where they may cause warts. Additionally, there are descriptions of the presence of papillomavirus DNA in the blood and in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Papillomaviruses were first identified in the early 20th century, when it was shown that skin warts, or papillomas, could be transmitted between individuals by a filterable infectious agent. In 1935 Francis Peyton Rous, who had previously demonstrated the existence of a cancer-causing sarcoma virus in chickens, went on to show that a papillomavirus could cause skin cancer in infected rabbits. This was the first demonstration that a virus could cause cancer in mammals.