Genomic structure and characteristics of coronavirus

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus is a positive single stranded RNA virus with envelope. The genome size of coronavirus is between 26 000 and 32 000 nt. It encodes spike protein(S), also known as four structural proteins such as spike protein, envelope protein(E), membrane protein(M) and core-shell protein(N), replicase(ORF1 a/b) and several auxiliary proteins. Some viruses also have hemagglutinin esterase(HE). In addition to maintaining the virus structure, it also has the functions of promoting infection and resisting host immune response. Spike protein can bind to the receptor on the surface of host cells to fuse the virus envelope with the membrane of host cells to infect cells. Coronavirus infection can affect many signal transduction pathways of cells and trigger immune response. It is a kind of virus that can infect mammals and birds.