title: The Molecular Biology of Pestiviruses.
abstract: Pestiviruses are among the economically most important pathogens of livestock. The biology of these viruses is characterized by unique and interesting features that are both crucial for their success as pathogens and challenging from a scientific point of view. Elucidation of these features at the molecular level has made striking progress during recent years. The analyses revealed that major aspects of pestivirus biology show significant similarity to the biology of human hepatitis C virus (HCV). The detailed molecular analyses conducted for pestiviruses and HCV supported and complemented each other during the last three decades resulting in elucidation of the functions of viral proteins and RNA elements in replication and virus-host interaction. For pestiviruses, the analyses also helped to shed light on the molecular basis of persistent infection, a special strategy these viruses have evolved to be maintained within their host population. The results of these investigations are summarized in this chapter.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology and Cell Biology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tautz
authors.affiliation: Institut für Immunologie, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Birke Andrea
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Tews
authors.affiliation: Institut für Immunologie, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany. Electronic address: gregor.meyers@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meyers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D058751:Livestock; D010576:Pestivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018182:Pestivirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Border disease virus; Bovine viral diarrhea virus; Classical swine fever virus; Cytopathic pestivirus; Erns RNase; Npro; Pestiviral RNA structures; Pestiviral proteins; Pestivirus; Pestivirus persistence