Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T05:01:18.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

22 - Evolution of the Bunyaviridae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2010

Adrian J. Gibbs
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Canberra
Charles H. Calisher
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Fernando García-Arenal
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The family Bunyaviridae is one of the largest groupings of viruses. More than 300 viruses, arranged in numerous serogroups, are contained in the family, and this number is taken as evidence of their evolutionary success and potential. Some of these viruses are associated with serious diseases of humans, such as haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, and Rift Valley fever. Hence the family warrants continual epidemiological surveillance. Characteristics that unite the Bunyaviridae include the following: tripartite, singlestranded RNA genome of negative- or ambi-sense polarity; enveloped virus particle comprising four structural proteins - two glycoproteins termed Gl and G2, a nucleocapsid protein, N and an RNA polymerase, the L protein; cytoplasmic site of viral replication with intracellular maturation at the Golgi; viral mRNA transcription primed by capped oligonucleotides cleaved from the 5’ ends of host-cell mRNAs. Considering the large number of viruses that fulfil these criteria, it is perhaps not unexpected that considerable diversity exists at the molecular level in terms of genome coding and replication strategies, and at the biological level in terms of vector and host interactions. These factors will be briefly reviewed in this Chapter.

Biology of Bunyaviridae

The family Bunyaviridae is currently (Calisher, 1991) divided into five genera: Bunyavirus, Hantavirus, Nairovirus, Phlebovirus and Tospovirus. Such subdivision was originally made by serological comparisons but the availability of nucleotide sequence data has enabled more precise classification. (In this chapter ‘Bunyaviridae’ is used to refer to familial traits and the terms bunyavirus, hantavirus, etc, to generic traits.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×