Systematic Veterinary Virology

MORPHOLOGY

• APMV-1 are single stranded, non-segmented and negative  sense RNA viruses. They are enveloped viruses and are ether sensitive. They possess helical symmetry. The surface has number of projections (HN Protein). They measure 150-300 nm.
• The virus contains six genes encoding six major structural proteins:
• Nucleoprotein (NP),
• Phosphoprotein (P),
• Matrix protein (M),
• Fusion protein (F),
• Hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and
• RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L).
• Apart from the six proteins APMV-1 also contains two proteins V and W.
  The RNA together with NP, P, and L proteins forms the ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP), which serves as a template for RNA synthesis. The hemagglutinin/neuraminidase (HN) is important for the attachment and release of the virus from the host cells in addition to its serologic identification.
• The other very important surface protein is the fusion (F) protein, which has a critical role in the pathogenesis of the disease.