Bwamba Fever - Gene Expression and Genome Replication

Gene Expression and Genome Replication

Once inside a host cell cytoplasm, the genomic RNA’s are transcribed into mRNA’s by the associated RNA polymerase. From these transcripts, the host machinery is used for translation into viral proteins. The S segment is slightly different from the rest as it is ambisense, meaning genes run in both the positive and negative directions. To enable correct translation of the proteins, a second round of transcription has to occur.

To replicate the genome, transcription occurs to produce a replicative intermediate, which is then itself transcribed into new RNA genomes, with the aid of the RNA polymerases produced from the gene expression.