Introduction

Classification

Rhabdoviruses are of the Mononegavirales order, which include nonsegmented, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses. The Rhabdoviridae family includes the Lyssavirus , Ephemerovirus , and Vesiculovirus genera. The rabies virus is a member of the lyssavirus genus, and vesicular stomatitis virus belongs to the vesiculovirus genus.

Morphology

Rhabdoviruses have no polyA tail or 5' cap. The virion has a distinct bullet shape with a helical nucleocapsid and envelope with about 400 large trimeric glycoprotein spikes on the surface. The virion is approximately 75 nm wide and 180 nm long.

Translation, Protein Production

Replication occurs in the cytoplasm, and the genomic length (+) RNA is used as a template. Rhabdoviruses encode 5 proteins: nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G), and polymerase (L).

photo courtesty of: rabies.net

 

References:

“The Rabies Virus.” http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/the_virus/virus.htm

Humans & Viruses Class Notes. Robert Siegel. Fall 2005.