Bocavirus is a genus in the family Parvoviridae, subfamily Parvovirinae.

The type species is bovine bocavirus.

Genome

Like the other members of this family bocaviuses have two open reading frames - ORF1 and 2. Uniquely among parvoviruses, the bocaviruses they contain a third open reading frame between non-structural and structural coding regions. This gene encodes a highly phosphorylated non-structural protein (NP1) whose function is not yet understood.

ORF1 is a non structural protein which is involved in the viral genome replication. ORF2 encodes the two capsid proteins - VP1 and VP2.

Like other parvoviruses the VP1 unique region contains a putative secretory phospholipase

Phospholipase

A phospholipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phospholipids into fatty acids and other lipophilic substances. There are four major classes, termed A, B, C and D, distinguished by the type of reaction which they catalyze:*Phospholipase A...

 A(2) motif with a conserved Histadine-Aspartic acid

Aspartic acid

Aspartic acid is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HOOCCHCH2COOH. The carboxylate anion, salt, or ester of aspartic acid is known as aspartate. The L-isomer of aspartate is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of proteins...

-XXY motif in the catalytic center.

Virology

Bovine bocavirus utilise endocytosis in clathrin-coated vesicles to enter cells, is dependent upon acidification, and appears to be associated with actin and microtubule dependency.

Clinical

These viruses generally infect the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Some may cross the placenta and cause congenital infection of the fetus.

Canine minute virus, first isolated in 1967 and associated with disease in 1970, causes respiratory disease with breathing difficulty and enteritis with severe diarrhoea, spontaneous abortion of fetuses and death of newborn puppies.

Huma bocaviruses were first isolated in 2005 in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. They may be able to cause hepatitis

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...

in an immunosuppressed host.