Strauss J H, Strauss E G
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125.
Microbiol Rev. 1994 Sep;58(3):491-562. doi: 10.1128/mr.58.3.491-562.1994.
The alphaviruses are a genus of 26 enveloped viruses that cause disease in humans and domestic animals. Mosquitoes or other hematophagous arthropods serve as vectors for these viruses. The complete sequences of the +/- 11.7-kb plus-strand RNA genomes of eight alphaviruses have been determined, and partial sequences are known for several others; this has made possible evolutionary comparisons between different alphaviruses as well as comparisons of this group of viruses with other animal and plant viruses. Full-length cDNA clones from which infectious RNA can be recovered have been constructed for four alphaviruses; these clones have facilitated many molecular genetic studies as well as the development of these viruses as expression vectors. From these and studies involving biochemical approaches, many details of the replication cycle of the alphaviruses are known. The interactions of the viruses with host cells and host organisms have been exclusively studied, and the molecular basis of virulence and recovery from viral infection have been addressed in a large number of recent papers. The structure of the viruses has been determined to about 2.5 nm, making them the best-characterized enveloped virus to date. Because of the wealth of data that has appeared, these viruses represent a well-characterized system that tell us much about the evolution of RNA viruses, their replication, and their interactions with their hosts. This review summarizes our current knowledge of this group of viruses.
甲病毒属有26种包膜病毒，可导致人类和家畜患病。蚊子或其他吸血节肢动物是这些病毒的传播媒介。已确定了8种甲病毒的+/- 11.7 kb正链RNA基因组的完整序列，其他几种病毒的部分序列也已为人所知；这使得不同甲病毒之间以及该组病毒与其他动植物病毒之间的进化比较成为可能。已经为4种甲病毒构建了可从中回收感染性RNA的全长cDNA克隆；这些克隆促进了许多分子遗传学研究以及将这些病毒开发为表达载体。通过这些以及涉及生化方法的研究，人们已经了解了甲病毒复制周期的许多细节。已经专门研究了病毒与宿主细胞和宿主生物体的相互作用，近期大量论文探讨了毒力和从病毒感染中恢复的分子基础。已确定这些病毒的结构约为2.5纳米，使其成为迄今为止特征最明确的包膜病毒。由于已出现了大量数据，这些病毒代表了一个特征明确的系统，能让我们深入了解RNA病毒的进化、复制及其与宿主的相互作用。本综述总结了我们目前对这组病毒的认识。
