From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) is the type species of the genus Lagovirus belonging to Caliciviridae family. RHDV is an important pathogen that causes a highly contagious disease in wild and domestic rabbits. The RHDV virion is 30±40 nm in diameter, shows a characteristic morphology and is composed of a major protein of 60 kDa (VP60). The 7±5 kb positive-sense ssRNA genome encodes a large precursor polyprotein which undergoes proteolytic cleavage to yield mature proteins. The C-terminal region of the polyprotein gives rise to the polypeptide p60, which is detected by antibodies against the capsid protein. Furthermore, the presence of an abundant encapsidated subgenomic mRNA with coding capacity for VP60 suggests that the major capsid protein could be obtained either by proteolytic processing of the polyprotein or by translation of the subgenomic mRNA.
Article: http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_edpik/ls_5.htm
