title: The RNA synthesis machinery of negative-stranded RNA viruses.
abstract: The group of Negative-Stranded RNA Viruses (NSVs) includes many human pathogens, like the influenza, measles, mumps, respiratory syncytial or Ebola viruses, which produce frequent epidemics of disease and occasional, high mortality outbreaks by transmission from animal reservoirs. The genome of NSVs consists of one to several single-stranded, negative-polarity RNA molecules that are always assembled into mega Dalton-sized complexes by association to many nucleoprotein monomers. These RNA-protein complexes or ribonucleoproteins function as templates for transcription and replication by action of the viral RNA polymerase and accessory proteins. Here we review our knowledge on these large RNA-synthesis machines, including the structure of their components, the interactions among them and their enzymatic activities, and we discuss models showing how they perform the virus transcription and replication programmes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC) and CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jortin@cnb.csic.es.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortín
authors.affiliation: Department of Macromolecular Structures, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jmartinb@cnb.csic.es.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martín-Benito
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
keywords: Negative-stranded RNA virus; Nucleocapsid; RNA replication; RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; Ribonucleoprotein; Transcription