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RNA virus replication, transcription and recombination

182 RNA Biology Volume 8 issue 2 In October of 2009 a group of researchers with a common interest in RNA virus reproduction met to present and discuss their recent findings on molecular mechanisms related to viral genome replication at a Cantoblanco Workshop on Biology: “Replication and Recombination of RNA Virus Genomes” in Madrid, Spain (co-organized by Luis Enjuanes, Ben Berkhout and K. Andrew White). The exciting discussions during the meeting provided the inspiration for this Special Focus Issue of RNA Biology on RNA virus replication, transcription and recombination that offers a forum to expand on some of the topics presented at the Cantoblanco Workshop. The genomes of RNA viruses play the obvious critical role of genetic repository for the production of viral proteins. However, these genomes also carry out multiple functions during virus reproduction in addition to serving as mRNAs for translation. Such additional duties include the critical roles as template for genome replication and transcription of viral subgenomic (sg) mRNAs, as well as participation in other diverse functions, e.g. virion assembly. Accordingly, viral genomes contain numerous regulatory RNA elements that promote, regulate and coordinate these diverse molecular processes. As such, viral RNA genomes can be considered dynamic molecules that adopt different local and global RNA structures in a spatially and temporally regulated manner. Indeed, for some RNA viruses, the viral genome can be considered to be a conductor that orchestrates multiple viral processes in the infected cell. The central role played by viral RNA genomes is frequently executed by viral or host cell proteins that interact with these genomes, but the functional partners may also be other RNA molecules, e.g. the cellular tRNA primer that initiates reverse transcription of the retroviral RNA genome. The protein partners come in a variety of forms and provide critical enzymatic or structural functions needed for successful virus reproduction. Together, the protein and RNA factors interact with cellular pathways to allow viruses to successfully hijack the host cell machinery for virus production. The reviews in this special issue describe some of the fascinating roles played by dynamic RNA genomes of different classes of RNA viruses. Virus RNA genome replication. The replication of a viral genome is a fundamental step in the virus life cycle. For both plusand minus-strand RNA viruses, this process proceeds RNA virus replication, transcription and recombination