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. 2016 Sep;3(3):155-161.
doi: 10.1007/s40588-016-0041-7. Epub 2016 Jul 2.

Filamentous Influenza Viruses

Matthew D Badham  1 , Jeremy S Rossman  1
Affiliations

Filamentous Influenza Viruses

Matthew D Badham et al. Curr Clin Microbiol Rep. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Influenza A virus is a pathogen of global medical importance causing significant health and socio-economic costs every year. Influenza virus is an unusual pathogen in that it is pleomorphic, capable of forming virions ranging in shape from spherical to filamentous. Despite decades of research on the influenza virus, much remains unknown about the formation of filamentous influenza viruses and their role in the viral replication cycle. Here, we discuss what is known about influenza virus assembly and budding, focusing on the viral and host factors that are involved in the determination of viral morphology. Whilst the biological function of the filamentous morphology remains unknown, recent results suggest a role in facilitating viral spread in vivo. We discuss these results and speculate on the consequences of viral morphology during influenza virus infection of the human respiratory tract.

Keywords: Assembly; Budding; Filaments; Influenza virus; Morphology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Jeremy Rossman reports grants from Medical Research Council and grants from European Commission, during the conduct of the study. Badham declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Filamentous and spherical influenza virions. MDCK cells were infected with 3 MOI of A/Udorn/72 influenza virus for 18 h. The supernatant was harvested, fixed and processed for scanning electron microscopy. Image is 14 × 20 μm
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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