Nine known species of the fuselloviruses can
propagate in both major culturable genera from aerobic,
acidic hot springs, Sulfolobus and Acidianus, and the fuselloviruses probably
infect other host species from this environment, such as
Caldococcus, Vulcanisaeta and Stygiolobus. Furthermore, the family presumably extends its host
range into the vast number of currently uncultured species
found in other extreme environments, such as the acid-mine
drainage ecosystem, where a homologue of one of the
structural proteins of the fuselloviruses, VP2, was recently
found by community genomic studies.