Two double-stranded RNA viruses exist as permanent persistent infections of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: ScVL1 and ScVLa. Both belong to the Totiviridae, which include a number of fungal and protozoan double-stranded RNA viruses. Although ScVL1 and ScVLa share the same genomic organization and mode of expression and coexist in the same cells, they show no evidence of recombination: with one limited exception, sequence conservation is detectable only in regions conserved in all totiviruses. Both have two open reading frames on their single essential RNAs: cap (encoding a capsid polypeptide) and pol (encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase). The ScVLa virus, like ScVL1, appears to express its Pol domain by a -1 translational frameshift.