On a hot summer day, you instinctively swat away a pesky fruit fly hovering around your fruit or soft drink. Chances are you have also shooed away one of its most common companions—an RNA virus named Galbūt, the Lithuanian word for "Maybe." Despite its unusual name, this virus has been officially recorded in international genetic sequence databases, alongside others bearing distinctly Baltic-inspired names such as Ūsinis, Barstukas, Pikulas, and Patulas. These names were coined by Dr Gytis Dudas, a virologist at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center.
Throughout this article, virus names are presented in their original Baltic spelling, as they appear in international genetic sequence databases.
Searching for new viruses
For many years, new RNA viruses were usually discovered only after causing problems for humans, domestic animals or agriculture. As a result, virologists focused primarily on disease outbreaks, leaving much of the viral diversity circulating in nature unexplored.
"Traditional, labour-intensive virological methods and the focus on viruses that disrupt economically important human activities inevitably provided an incomplete picture of RNA virus diversity," says Dr Dudas.
This changed dramatically with the rapid development and falling cost of high-throughput sequencing technologies. Scientists can now sequence all genetic material present in a sample at once, making it unnecessary to grow viruses in the laboratory or search only among disease-causing organisms.
One of the earliest breakthroughs came in 2014, when researchers in China analysed 70 insect species and identified at least 112 previously unknown RNA viruses. Since then, virus discovery has accelerated dramatically, with hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of new RNA viruses being identified every year.
Along with this flood of discoveries came an unexpected challenge: every newly discovered virus needs a name.
How viruses get their names
The first large-scale virus discovery projects adopted a practical naming strategy. Chinese researchers typically named newly discovered viruses after the location where they had been found and their presumed host. When the same combination occurred repeatedly, a number was simply added. This gave rise to names such as Wuhan Louse Fly Virus 11 and Shuangao Bedbug Virus 1.
"Although these names were not always particularly creative, they became something of a scientific calling card for the Chinese research community. Once a virus is named, it usually keeps that name forever. Even if the same virus is later discovered on another continent, it cannot be renamed. As a result, mosquitoes in Lithuania today may still carry a virus whose name refers to Wuhan," explains Dr Dudas.
For scientists discovering new viruses, naming them offers a rare opportunity to leave a lasting mark on science. Some choose geographical locations, others refer to host species or assign numbers, while some names draw inspiration from language, mythology or even personal stories.
Baltic traces in global virus databases
Today, international genetic sequence databases contain at least 13 RNA viruses with Baltic-inspired names, including Galbūt ("Maybe"), Ūsinis, Barstukas, Pikulas, Patulas, Miglotas ("Misty"), and Keturi ("Four"). Most of them were named by Dr Dudas during his research on mosquitoes in California.
According to the scientist, these names are far from random. Some draw inspiration from Baltic mythology, others reflect the biological characteristics of the viruses, while some contain personal cultural references.
"Six of these names—Patollo, Picullus, Poccolus, Pikulas, Pecols and Patulas—are different historical versions of the name of Pikulas, an Old Prussian deity associated with the underworld. They also serve as a tribute to the Lithuanian black metal band Poccolus, which emerged in the early 1990s," says Dr Dudas.
Ironically, all six viruses are most likely not mosquito viruses at all—they are believed to infect fungi. Not all virus names originate from mythology.
"The virus Vai augu ('Perhaps of plants' in Latvian) belongs to a group of viruses commonly found in plants, while Keturi ('Four' in Lithuanian) belongs to a virus group whose genome always consists of four separate RNA segments," explains the virologist.
Another virus, Astopletus, also tells a story about its biology.
"The name combines the Proto-Balto-Slavic root asto-, meaning 'eight', with the Latin word pletus, meaning 'completion'. It reflects our belief that we identified all eight genome segments of this virus—a difficult task considering they had to be found among hundreds of thousands of genetic sequences present in mosquito samples," says Dr Dudas.
The stories behind Ūsinis and Barstukas are equally fascinating. Although these viruses are evolutionarily distant relatives, they were consistently found together during the study.
"You could call them social viruses. Whenever we detected Ūsinis in mosquitoes, Barstukas was there as well. They may actually cooperate when infecting mosquitoes," explains Dr Dudas.
This intriguing pattern inspired their names. Ūsinis is named after Ūsiņš, the Latvian deity associated with horses, spring and light, and forms part of the broader Proto-Indo-European mytheme of the Divine Twins. Barstukas, meanwhile, takes its name from mythical creatures of Baltic folklore believed to dwell beneath tree stumps.
"Galbūt" — the virus that didn't seem to be a virus
Perhaps the most intriguing story belongs to Galbūt—whose Lithuanian name literally means "Maybe."
"The name is a clue that there’s uncertainty about the virus’ existence," says Dr Dudas.
The virus was discovered in the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Normally, new viruses are identified by comparing their genetic sequences with those of already known viruses. In this case, however, the genetic material had changed so extensively that conventional methods failed to recognise it as viral. Instead, Professor Darren Obbard of the University of Edinburgh took a different approach.
"When fruit flies detect suspicious RNA molecules, their innate immune system leaves behind characteristic molecular signatures inside infected cells. These signatures indicate that the genetic material most likely belongs to a virus," explains Dr Dudas. This is how Galbūt was first identified. The biggest surprise came later.
"Ironically, 'Galbūt' turned out to be the most common RNA virus found in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) worldwide," says Dr Dudas.
Researchers were even more surprised when they managed to sequence Galbūt virus from museum fruit fly specimens collected nearly 200 years ago. Its remarkable stability is thought to result from its double-stranded RNA genome and protective protein shell.
Every newly discovered virus needs a name
Viruses are often associated with disease, yet the vast majority of RNA viruses pose no threat to humans. Instead, they have evolved to infect entirely different hosts, including insects, fungi and plants. According to Dr Dudas, vertebrates and arthropods diverged approximately 600 million years ago, making it highly unlikely that a virus adapted to infect mosquitoes or fruit flies could successfully jump to humans.
"We should think of RNA viruses as yet another—albeit highly unusual—form of life. They have most likely accompanied living organisms since the very beginning of life on Earth and, for the most part, remain invisible inhabitants of the natural world that have little or no impact on our everyday lives," says the virologist.
As researchers continue to explore the diversity of RNA viruses, hundreds of previously unknown viruses have already been discovered—and many more are expected to follow.
Each new discovery will need a name. Rather than allowing these viruses to become little more than catalogue numbers in international genetic sequence databases, scientists are now considering involving the public in the naming process.
In the future, the next unusual virus discovered in nature may receive a name inspired not only by science, but also by language, culture or mythology.