Characterization of Marburg virus morphology / 病毒学报

ABSTRACT

Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV) belong to the family Filoviridae. Filoviruses cause severe filovirus hemorrhagic fever (FHF) in humans, with high case fatality rates, and represent potential agents for bioterrorism and biological weapons. It is necessary to keep surveillance of filoviruses, even though there is no report of their isolation and patients in China so far. To characterize MARV morphology, the Lake Victoria marburgvirus--Leiden was stained negatively and observed under a transmission electron microscope which is one of important detection methods for filoviruses in emergencies and bioterrorism. MARV showed pleomorphism, with filamentous, rod-shaped, cobra-like, spherical, and branch-shaped particles of uniform diameter but different lengths. Pleomorphism of negatively stained MARV is summarized in this article, so as to provide useful information for possible electron microscopic identification of filoviruses in China.