Systematic Veterinary Virology

REPLICATION

• Rabies virus attaches to a cell by interaction between G protein and receptors on the surface of cells. After adsorption, the virus penetrates the host cell and enters the cytoplasm by pinocytosis (via clathrin-coated pits).
• The virions are present in the cytoplasm as  large endosomes (cytoplasmic vesicles). The viral membranes fuse to the endosomal membranes, causing the release of viral RNP into the cytoplasm (uncoating).
• Since rabies virus have a linear single-negative-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome, messenger RNAs (mRNAs) must be transcribed to permit virus replication, which is facilitated by polymerase (L) present in the core.
• The polymerase (L)  transcribes the genomic strand of rabies RNA into leader RNA and five capped and polyadenylated mRNAs, which are translated into proteins.