Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) is a negative-sense, single-stranded enveloped

RNA virus An RNA virus is a virus characterized by a ribonucleic acid (RNA) based genome. The genome can be single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) or double-stranded (Double-stranded RNA, dsRNA). Notable human diseases caused by RNA viruses include influenza, SARS, ...

. It is assigned to the ''

Orthobunyavirus ''Orthobunyavirus'' is a genus of the ''Peribunyaviridae'' family in the order '' Elliovirales''. The genus contains 138 species. The name ''Orthobunyavirus'' derives from Bunyamwera, Uganda, where Bunyamwera virus was first discovered, along wi ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, in the ''

Peribunyaviridae ''Peribunyaviridae'' is a Family (biology), family of viruses in the order ''Elliovirales''. Its name partially derives from Bunyamwera, Uganda, where the founding species was first isolated. Taxonomy The family contains the following genera: * ...

'' family. Bunyamwera virus can infect both humans and ''

Aedes aegypti ''Aedes aegypti'' ( or from Greek 'hateful' and from Latin, meaning 'of Egypt'), sometimes called the Egyptian mosquito, dengue mosquito or yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that spreads diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, malar ...

'' (yellow fever mosquito). It is named for

Bunyamwera Bunyamwera is a town in Bundibugyo District, Uganda. It lies just outside of Rwenzori Mountains National Park, which is to the south. The town is north of Kagugu, southeast of Bunyana, and southwest of Butama. Other nearby settlements incl ...

, a town in western

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, where it was isolated in 1943. Reassortant viruses derived from Bunyamwera virus, such as

Ngari virus Ngari virus (NRIV) is a single-stranded, negative sense, tri-segmented RNA virus. It is a subtype of the Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) and closely related to the Batai virus (BATV). NRIV is the only reassortment virus of the subtypes. There is evidenc ...

, have been associated with large outbreaks of

viral haemorrhagic fever Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of diseases. "Viral" means a health problem caused by infection from a virus, "hemorrhagic" means to bleed, and "fever" means an unusually high body temperature. Bleeding and fever are commo ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Molecular biology

The genetic structure of Bunyamwera virus is typical for viruses in ''

Bunyaviricetes ''Bunyaviricetes'' is a class of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses with mainly tripartite genomes. Member viruses infect arthropods, plants, protozoans, and vertebrates. The name ''Bunyaviricetes'' derives from Bunyamwera, where the virus Bun ...

'', which are a class of enveloped negative-sense, single-stranded

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

viruses with a

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

split into three parts—Small (S), Middle (M), and Large (L). The L RNA segment encodes an RNA-dependent

RNA polymerase In molecular biology, RNA polymerase (abbreviated RNAP or RNApol), or more specifically DNA-directed/dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP), is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactions that synthesize RNA from a DNA template. Using the e ...

(L protein), the M RNA segment encodes two surface

glycoprotein Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide (sugar) chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known a ...

s (Gc and Gn) and a

nonstructural protein In virology, a nonstructural protein is a protein encoded by a virus but that is not part of the viral particle. They typically include the various enzymes and transcription factors the virus uses to replicate itself, such as a viral protease ( 3CL ...

(NSm), while the S RNA segment encodes a nucleocapsid protein (N) and, in an alternative overlapping

reading frame In molecular biology, a reading frame is a specific choice out of the possible ways to read the nucleic acid sequence, sequence of nucleotides in a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) molecule as a sequence of triplets. Where these triplets equate to amino ...

, a second nonstructural protein (NSs). The genomic RNA segments are encapsidated by copies of the N protein in the form of

ribonucleoprotein Nucleoproteins are proteins conjugated with nucleic acids (either DNA or RNA). Typical nucleoproteins include ribosomes, nucleosomes and viral nucleocapsid proteins. Structures Nucleoproteins tend to be positively charged, facilitating inter ...

(RNP) complexes. The N protein is the most abundant protein in virus particles and infected cells and, therefore, the main target in many serological and molecular diagnostics.

Molecular biology

Disease in humans

References

External links