Structure of Rift Valley Fever Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase

Rift valley fever virus (RVFV) is in the order Bunyavirales, family Phenuiviridae and genus Phlebovirus. It causes severe infections to both humans and animals (zoonotic) leading to significant economic losses. RVFV is a single stranded virus with three segments in its RNA genome namely large (L), medium (M) and small (S) segment. The L segment encodes for single polypeptide L protein which is an RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) while the M segment encodes for glycoprotein precursor and the S segment uses ambisence strategy to express NSs and nucleoprotein. The L protein is responsible for viral replication and transcription. Regarding treatment and prevention of infection, there is no specific drug therefore this study analyzed the function and structure of L protein using a cryo electron microscopy with resolution of 3.6 Å. This RdRp structure showed the mechanism of RNA synthesis and transcription. Their results showed that the RdRp is a promising drug target and can be explored further to develop antivirals for both humans and animals.
(BEC)