In the past, scientists 'understanding of satellite nucleic acids was that they were extensions of the virus genome, given that the virus genome is so small. For example, BaMV has only five genes. Thus the majority of proteins helping it complete its replication cycle are provided by the host plant.
以往科學界對衛星核酸的了解，都以為它是病毒基因體的延伸，因為病毒基因體很小，例如竹嵌紋病毒只有 5 個基因，因此多數協助其完成複製史的蛋白，均需要依靠寄主植物來提供。