Papovaviridae

(virology) A family of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-containing viruses characterized by a nonenveloped icosahedral virion containing double-stranded circular DNA that is complexed inside the nucleocapsid to histone proteins of host cell origin.

One of the major deoxyribonucleic acid virus families to which the papillomavirus and polyomavirus belong. Viruses in this family have a double-stranded, supercoiled, circular molecular structure with icosahedral symmetry

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

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.