Influenza virus : the mechanism of genome packaging

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The genome of influenza A viruses comprises eight negative-strand RNA segments. Although all eight segments must be present in cells for efficient viral replication, the mechanism(s) by which these viral RNA (vRNA) segments are incorporate into virions is not fully understood. In this study, we found that sequences at both ends of the coding and noncoding regions of all eight segments of A/WSN/33 play important roles in the incorporation of these vRNAs into influenza virions. Indeed, electron microscopy of influenza A virus has revealed that budding virions contain eight ribonucleoprotein (RNP) molecules, indicating that the RNPs likely assemble to form a multisegmented macromolecule. These findings indicated that the genome packaging steps could be excellent targets for the development of antiviral compounds.