Abstract: Picornaviruses (family Picornaviridae) are small (about 30 nm in diameter), nonenveloped, icosahedral viruses that possess a positive-strand genomic RNA of ~7.5 kb. Poliovirus is the prototype of the picornavirus. Its RNA genome encodes one large protein (polyprotein) that is subsequently processed to multiple functional viral proteins. Intriguingly, a viral protein (VPg) linked to the 5′ end serves as a protein-primer for the RNA genome replication. In the absence of the cap structure at the 5′ end, its translation proceeds in a cap-independent manner, relying on the internal ribosome entry site element. Picornaviruses infect many tissues and lead to diverse diseases, ranging from severe diseases, such as poliomyelitis (poliovirus), hepatitis (hepatitis A virus), to less severe diseases, such as common colds (rhinovirus).
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-05-07
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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