ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Flaviviridae

Abstract

The Flaviviridae is a family of small enveloped viruses with RNA genomes of 9000-13 000 bases. Most infect mammals and birds. Many flaviviruses are host-specific and pathogenic, such as hepatitis C virus in the genus Hepacivirus. The majority of known members in the genus Flavivirus are arthropod borne, and many are important human and veterinary pathogens (e.g. yellow fever virus, dengue virus). This is a summary of the current International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) report on the taxonomy of the Flaviviridae, which is available at www.ictv.global/report/flaviviridae.

Fig. 1.

Three-dimensional cryo-electron reconstruction of immature (left) and mature (right) particles of an isolate of dengue virus (courtesy of Richard Kuhn and Michael Rossmann). Shown is a surface rendering of immature dengue virus at 12.5 Å resolution (left) and mature dengue virus at 10 Å resolution (right). The viruses are depicted to scale, but not coloured to scale. Triangles outline one icosahedral unit, with the 2-, 3- and 5-fold axes of symmetry.

Fig. 2.

Genome organization and polyprotein processing of members of the genus Flavivirus. Boxes below the genome indicate viral proteins generated by proteolytic processing. NCR, non-coding region.