The parts are greater than the whole: the role of semi-infectious particles in influenza A virus biology

•The majority of IAV particles fail to express one or more gene segments.•IAV gene segment packaging is highly efficient but not perfect.•Semi-infectious particles (SIPs) can be produced by a variety of mechanisms.•SIPs are made in vivo but roles in IAV infection and evolution remain unclear.•Variat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in virology 2018-12, Vol.33, p.42-46
Main Authors: Diefenbacher, Meghan, Sun, Jiayi, Brooke, Christopher B
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:•The majority of IAV particles fail to express one or more gene segments.•IAV gene segment packaging is highly efficient but not perfect.•Semi-infectious particles (SIPs) can be produced by a variety of mechanisms.•SIPs are made in vivo but roles in IAV infection and evolution remain unclear.•Variation in viral gene content in single cells may influence infection outcome. The influenza A virus (IAV) genome is incorporated into newly produced virions through a tightly orchestrated process that is one of the best studied examples of genome packaging by a segmented virus. Despite the remarkable selectivity and efficiency of this process, it is clear that the vast majority of IAV virions are unable to express the full set of essential viral gene products and are thus incapable of productive replication in the absence of complementation. Here, we attempt to reconcile the widespread production of these semi-infectious particles (SIPs) with the high efficiency and selectivity of IAV genome packaging. We also cover what is known and what remains unknown about the consequences of SIP production for the replication and evolution of viral populations.
ISSN:1879-6257
1879-6265
DOI:10.1016/j.coviro.2018.07.002