Influenza A viral ribonucleoprotein (vRNP) complexes comprise the eight genomic negative-sense RNAs, each of which is bound to multiple copies of the vRNP and a trimeric viral polymerase complex. The influenza virus life cycle centres on the vRNPs, which in turn rely on host cellular processes to carry out functions that are necessary for the successful completion of the virus life cycle. In this Review, we discuss our current knowledge about vRNP trafficking within host cells and the function of these complexes in the context of the virus life cycle, highlighting how structure contributes to function and the crucial interactions with host cell pathways, as well as on the information gaps that remain. An improved understanding of how vRNPs use host cell pathways is essential to identify mechanisms of virus pathogenicity, host adaptation and, ultimately, new targets for antiviral intervention.

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At the centre: influenza A virus ribonucleoproteins

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Recombination in viruses: mechanisms, methods of study, and evolutionary consequences.

Segmented RNA viruses are widespread in nature and include important human, animal and plant pathogens, such as influenza viruses and rotaviruses Although the origin of RNA virus genome segmentation remains elusive, a major consequence of this genome structure is the capacity for reassortment to occur during co-infection, whereby segments are exchanged among different viral strains Therefore, reassortment can create viral progeny that contain genes that are derived from more than one parent, potentially conferring important fitness advantages or disadvantages to the progeny virus However, for segmented RNA viruses that package their multiple genome segments into a single virion particle, reassortment also requires genetic compatibility between parental strains, which occurs in the form of conserved packaging signals, and the maintenance of RNA and protein interactions In this Review, we discuss recent studies that examined the mechanisms and outcomes of reassortment for three well-studied viral families - Cystoviridae, Orthomyxoviridae and Reoviridae - and discuss how these findings provide new perspectives on the replication and evolution of segmented RNA viruses

Reassortment in segmented RNA viruses: mechanisms and outcomes.

Influenza virus ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) are central to the viral life cycle and in adaptation to new host species. RNPs are composed of the viral genome, viral polymerase, and many copies of the viral nucleoprotein. In vitro cell expression of all RNP protein components with four of the eight influenza virus gene segments enabled structural determination of native influenza virus RNPs by means of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The cryo-EM structure reveals the architecture and organization of the native RNP, defining the attributes of its largely helical structure and how polymerase interacts with nucleoprotein and the viral genome. Observations of branched-RNP structures in negative-stain electron microscopy and their putative identification as replication intermediates suggest a mechanism for viral replication by a second polymerase on the RNP template.

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Organization of the Influenza Virus Replication Machinery

Reassortment is fundamental to the evolution of influenza viruses and plays a key role in the generation of epidemiologically significant strains. Previous studies indicate that reassortment is restricted by segment mismatch, arising from functional incompatibilities among components of two viruses. Additional factors that dictate the efficiency of reassortment remain poorly characterized. Thus, it is unclear what conditions are favorable for reassortment and therefore under what circumstances novel influenza A viruses might arise in nature. Herein, we describe a system for studying reassortment in the absence of segment mismatch and exploit this system to determine the baseline efficiency of reassortment and the effects of infection dose and timing. Silent mutations were introduced into A/Panama/2007/99 virus such that high-resolution melt analysis could be used to differentiate all eight segments of the wild-type and the silently mutated variant virus. The use of phenotypically identical parent viruses ensured that all progeny were equally fit, allowing reassortment to be measured without selection bias. Using this system, we found that reassortment occurred efficiently (88.4%) following high multiplicity infection, suggesting the process is not appreciably limited by intracellular compartmentalization. That co-infection is the major determinant of reassortment efficiency in the absence of segment mismatch was confirmed with the observation that the proportion of viruses with reassortant genotypes increased exponentially with the proportion of cells co-infected. The number of reassortants shed from co-infected guinea pigs was likewise dependent on dose. With 106 PFU inocula, 46%–86% of viruses isolated from guinea pigs were reassortants. The introduction of a delay between infections also had a strong impact on reassortment and allowed definition of time windows during which super-infection led to reassortment in culture and in vivo. Overall, our results indicate that reassortment between two like influenza viruses is efficient but also strongly dependent on dose and timing of the infections.

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Influenza Virus Reassortment Occurs with High Frequency in the Absence of Segment Mismatch

The influenza A virus genome consists of eight viral RNAs (vRNAs) that form viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs). Even though evidence supporting segment-specific packaging of vRNAs is accumulating, the mechanism ensuring selective packaging of one copy of each vRNA into the viral particles remains largely unknown. We used electron tomography to show that the eight vRNPs emerge from a common 'transition zone' located underneath the matrix layer at the budding tip of the virions, where they appear to be interconnected and often form a star-like structure. This zone appears as a platform in 3D surface rendering and is thick enough to contain all known packaging signals. In vitro, all vRNA segments are involved in a single network of intermolecular interactions. The regions involved in the strongest interactions were identified and correspond to known packaging signals. A limited set of nucleotides in the 5' region of vRNA 7 was shown to interact with vRNA 6 and to be crucial for packaging of the former vRNA. Collectively, our findings support a model in which the eight genomic RNA segments are selected and packaged as an organized supramolecular complex held together by direct base pairing of the packaging signals.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00750133/document

A supramolecular assembly formed by influenza A virus genomic RNA segments

The fragmented nature of the influenza A genome allows the exchange of gene segments when two or more influenza viruses infect the same cell, but little is known about the rules underlying this process. Here, we studied genetic reassortment between the A/Moscow/10/99 (H3N2, MO) virus originally isolated from human and the avian A/Finch/England/2051/91 (H5N2, EN) virus and found that this process is strongly biased. Importantly, the avian HA segment never entered the MO genetic background alone but always was accompanied by the avian PA and M fragments. Introduction of the 5′ and 3′ packaging sequences of HAMO into an otherwise HAEN backbone allowed efficient incorporation of the chimerical viral RNA (vRNA) into the MO genetic background. Furthermore, forcing the incorporation of the avian M segment or introducing five silent mutations into the human M segment was sufficient to drive coincorporation of the avian HA segment into the MO genetic background. These silent mutations also strongly affected the genotype of reassortant viruses. Taken together, our results indicate that packaging signals are crucial for genetic reassortment and that suboptimal compatibility between the vRNA packaging signals, which are detected only when vRNAs compete for packaging, limit this process.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/110/40/E3840.full.pdf

Boris Essere

Papers

A supramolecular assembly formed by influenza A virus genomic RNA segments

Critical role of segment-specific packaging signals in genetic reassortment of influenza A viruses

Interaction network linking the human H3N2 influenza A virus genomic RNA segments.