Combinatorial Minigenome Systems for Emerging Banyangviruses Reveal Viral Reassortment Potential and Importance of a Protruding Nucleotide in Genome "Panhandle" for Promoter Activity and Reassortment.

ABSTRACT: Banyangvirus is a new genus (Phenuiviridae family, Bunyavirales order) that comprises a group of emerging tick-borne viruses with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) and Heartland virus (HRTV) as virulent representatives. As segmented RNA viruses, bunyaviruses may have genome reassortment potential, increasing the concern about new life-threatening bunyavirus emergence. Using a series of combinatory minigenome reporter assays based on transfection and superinfection, we showed that replication machinery proteins of designated banyangviruses can recognize genomic untranslated regions (UTRs) of other banyangviruses and assemble heterogenous minigenomes into functional ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). Moreover, both heterogenous and heterozygous RNPs were

SUBMITTER: Ren F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7156889 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature