📄 Coronaviruses: Structure and genome expression

Progress has been rapid in coroavirology during the last few years, and interesting insights have been gained for virology in general. Thus recombination may be a major mechanism responsible for biological variation within family, including expansion of the host spectrum. 'New' viruses may arise when members of different families occupying the same ecological niche exchange genetic information; the similarity between a predicted amino acid sequence in mRNA 2 of MHV-A59 and the HA1 subunit of the influenza C spike protein could be the result of such a non-homologous recombination event (Luytjes et al., 1988). Apart from evolutionary implications this insight must have consequences for the use of modified 'live' virus vaccines. There are some areas to wich future research will have to be directed. The role of spike protein cleavage and gp65 in the infection process is unclear. Apart from the muscular mechanisms of coronavirus pathogenesis the non-structural proteins, e.g. the polymerase, await identification, while the details of mRNA transcription, RNA replication and recombination need to be elucidated.

keywords 🔗 spike protein (353) 🔗 acid sequence (108) 🔗 amino acid (454) 🔗 structural proteins (197)

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