Laboratory of Virology, Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Laboratory Medicine, University of Geneva Hospitals, 4 Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland.
Infect Genet Evol. 2013 Mar;14:282-93. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2012.10.016. Epub 2012 Nov 29.
Members of the Picornaviridae family are non-enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses with a 30nm icosahedral capsid. This virus family exhibits a considerable amount of genetic variability driven both by mutation and recombination. Recently, three previously unknown human picornaviruses, namely the human Saffold cardiovirus, cosavirus and salivirus, have been identified in stools or respiratory samples from subjects presenting symptoms ranging from gastroenteritis to acute flaccid paralysis. However, these viruses were also frequently detected in asymptomatic subjects and their clinical relevance remains to be elucidated. The Enterovirus genus is a prototype example of the Picornaviridae heterogeneity at both genetic and phenotypic levels. This genus is divided into 10 species, seven of which contain human viruses, including three Rhinovirus species. Both human rhino- and enteroviruses are also characterized by high levels of genetic variability, as exemplified by the existence of over 250 different serotypes and the recent discovery of new enterovirus genotypes and the Rhinovirus C species. Despite their common genomic features, rhinoviruses are restricted to the respiratory tract, whereas the vast majority of enteroviruses infect the gastrointestinal tract and can spread to other organs, such as the heart or the central nervous system. Understanding the genetic determinants of such phenotypic diversity is an important challenge and a field for future investigation. Better characterization of these ubiquitous human pathogens may help to develop vaccines or antiviral treatments and to monitor the emergence of new strains.
小核糖核酸病毒科的成员是无包膜的正链 RNA 病毒，具有 30nm 的二十面体衣壳。这个病毒家族表现出相当大的遗传变异性，这是由突变和重组驱动的。最近，三种以前未知的人类小核糖核酸病毒，即人类 Saffold 心脏病毒、cosavirus 和 salivirus，已在出现从胃肠炎到急性弛缓性麻痹等症状的患者的粪便或呼吸道样本中被发现。然而，这些病毒也经常在无症状患者中检测到，其临床相关性仍有待阐明。肠道病毒属是小核糖核酸病毒科在遗传和表型水平上异质性的典型范例。该属分为 10 个种，其中 7 个包含人类病毒，包括 3 个鼻病毒种。人类鼻病毒和肠道病毒的特点都是遗传变异性高，例如存在超过 250 种不同的血清型，以及最近发现新的肠道病毒基因型和鼻病毒 C 种。尽管它们具有共同的基因组特征，但鼻病毒仅限于呼吸道，而绝大多数肠道病毒感染胃肠道，并可传播到其他器官，如心脏或中枢神经系统。了解这种表型多样性的遗传决定因素是一个重要的挑战，也是未来研究的一个领域。更好地描述这些普遍存在的人类病原体可能有助于开发疫苗或抗病毒治疗方法，并监测新菌株的出现。
