VIRUS FAMILY: REOVIRIDAE (REO=Respiratory Enteric Orphan)

I. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
A. MEDIUM-SIZED, NON-ENVELOPED, DOUBLE-SHELLED VIRUSES
B. THE GENOME IS SEGMENTED - EACH DS RNA IS A GENE
C. TRANSCRIPTION AND BACK-TRANSCRIPTION OF mRNAs
D. MANY HOSTS: PLANTS, INVERTEBRATES, VERTEBRATES
E. A NUMBER OF HUMAN PATHOGENS: COLORADO TICK FEVER
VIRUS, HUMAN ROTAVIRUS, AND REOVIRUS STRAINS
II. STRUCTURE (FOR REOVIRUS-1)
A. SIZE:
B. ENVELOPE: NONE
C. NUCLEOCAPSID 55 - 75 nm IN DIA.
1. NUCLEIC ACID
a. TYPE: RNA BALTIMORE TYPE: III
b. STRANDED: DS, SEGMENTED
c. POLARITY: +-
6
d. MOL. WT.: ~15 X 10 ; 22.4 KBP
e. SEQ.-GENBANK AN: M24734(L1 OF REOVIRUS-1)
f. # GENES: 10 #ORFs: 10-11
2. GENETIC (PHYSICAL) MAP:
L1: (THERE ARE 9 OTHERS)
3854
CAP==============================================================
↓ (conservative)
CAP--------------------------------------------------------------
| (19, AUG) ↓ (3822, UGA) |

λ3 PROTEIN, pλ3 (REPLICASE, 1267 aa)

3. RNA SEGMENTS AND PROTEINS

RNA SEG. PROTEIN MW COPIES LOCATION FUNCTION
L1 λ3 135 12 CORE REPLICASE
L2 λ2 140 60 CORE GUANYLYL TRANS.
L3 λ1 135 120 CORE CAPSID

M1 μ2 70 12 CORE CAPSID
M2 μ1,μ1C 80,72 20 OUTER SHL PRECURSOR TO μ1c
μ1c 72 600 OUTER SHL OUTER CAPSID
M3 μ3(μNS) 75 NONSTRUCT ssRNA-BINDING

S1 σ1 42 36 OUTER SHL HEMAGGLUTININ

σ1s 12 NONSTRUCT ENZYME?
S2 σ2 38 240 CORE REPLICASE
S3 σ4(σNS) 36 NONSTRUCT ssRNA-BINDING
S4 σ3 34 600 OUTER SHL ds RNA-BINDING

VIRUS FAMILY: REOVIRIDAE

III. CLASSIFICATION AND CHARACTERISTIC MEMBERS
GENUS PROPERTIES MEMBERS
ORTHOREOVIRUS VERTEBRATES 10 SEGS. REOVIRUS-1, etc
ROTAVIRUS MAMMALS 11 SEGS. HUMAN ROATVIRUS
AQUAREOVIRUS FISH 11 SEGS. AQUAREOVIRUS-A
ORBIVIRUS INSECTS, MAM. 10 SEGS. BLUE-TONGUE V
COLTIVIRUS INSECTS, MAM. 12 SEGS. COLORADO TICK FEV V
PHYTOREOVIRUS PLANTS, 12 SEGS. RICE DWARF V
LEAFHOPPERS WOUND TUMOR V
FIJIVIRUS SUGAR CANE, 10 SEGS. FIJI DISEASE V
INSECTS
CYPOVIRUS INSECTS 10 SEGS. CYTOPLASMIC
POLYHEDROSIS V
ORYZAVIRUS RICE, INSECTS 10 SEGS. RICE RAGGED STUNT V

IV. VIRAL MULTIPLICATION

A. ABSORPTION, PENETRATION & UNCOATING: The virus
binds to the cell surface via the hemagglutinin in the
outer capsid. The cell receptor is not known in many
cases. The virus is engulfed into coated pits. These
fuse with lysozomes and the low pH causes the outer
shell to dissociate from the inner core. The inner core
(capsid) remains intact throughout the replication
cycle.
B. GENE EXPRESSION: The RNA replicase activity
depends on three proteins: λ3, λ2? and σ2, and a ss plus-
strand is produced, which is capped and methylated by
viral enzymes in the core: λ2 and ?. The 12 single-
stranded, capped mRNAs are extruded through the inner
core "pores", and are translated in the cytoplasm. The
new proteins form cores into which the 12 mRNAs assemble
by an unknown mechanism. The replicase that also inters
the new cores copies the mRNAs back to a DS genomic
RNA, which remains capped on the 5’-end of the sense (+)
strand. [The S1 mRNA is translated into two proteins, σ1
and σ1s in different reading frames. Two different start
UGAs near the 5’-end are used. The M3 mRNA is also translated
into two proteins with alternative UGAs that are inframe - pμNS
is longer than pμNSC by 20 amino acids at the N-terminus]
C. GENOME REPLICATION: This is accomplished after
assembly of the new cores as described above.
D. ASSEMBLY: Inner cores with their 12 mRNA
components, replicase, capping, and methylating enzymes
assemble in the cytoplasm. These new particles may also
produce mRNAs for new core assembly. After enough μ1c
is made the outer core assembles around the inner core
and proteins σ1 and σ3 seal the outer core a results in
a mature virion.
E. BUDDING AND/OR RELEASE: Cell lysis releases new
virions after about 10 hours.

V. CLINICAL CORRELATIONS
A. Human Rotavirus is the most important cause of
infantile gastroenteritis in the world. There are
millions of cases each year world wide and more than one
million infant deaths each year. Electron micrographs
of stool samples are often used for diagnosis - more than
10
10 virus per ml may be present and the morphology is a
distinctive "wheel-like" virion. The virus is also
assayed by EIA, latex bead agglutination and RNA
analysis.
B. Reoviruses infect a wide variety of animals. In
humans they are said to be "orphan" viruses, but are
suspected to have weak pathogenic activity which includes
mild URTIs and gastroenteritis.
C. The Coltivirus, Colorado tick fever virus, causes in
man a febrile dengue-like illness and can cause
encephalitis and even hemorrhagic fever; it is rarely
fatal. The virus is transmitted to man by the wood tick,
Dermacentor andersoni. Man is an accidental host of the
adult tick; the larval and nymphal ticks transmit the
virus to wild rodents which may carry the virus for long
periods.