Drosophila X virus

Drosophila X virus
Virus classification
Group:	Group III (dsRNA)
Family:	Birnaviridae
Genus:	Entomobirnavirus
Species:	Drosophila X virus

Drosophila X virus is a virus that can infect fruit flies of the genus Drosophila and is commonly used to study innate immunity in the common model organism Drosophila melanogaster. The viral capsid is roughly hexagonal and icosahedrally symmetrical. The genome of the virus consists of two linear, double-stranded RNA molecules. As a result, the virus is often used to study RNA interference as a mechanism of viral immunity in Drosophila. Although widely used in the laboratory, DXV has never been found as a natural infection of Drosophila, and was originally identified in Laboratory cell culture.

References

• ICTVdB Management (2006). 00.009.0.03.001. Drosophila X virus. In: ICTVdB - The Universal Virus Database, version 4. Büchen-Osmond, C. (Ed), Columbia University, New York, USA.

• Brun, G. & Plus, N. in The genetics and biology of Drosophila (eds. Ashburner, M. & Wright, T. R. F.) 625-702 (Academic Press, New York., 1980).