Development of a reverse-genetics system for Avian pneumovirus demonstrates that the small hydrophobic (SH) and attachment (G) genes are not essential for virus viability

Avian pneumovirus (APV) is a member of the genus Metapneumovirus of the subfamily Pneumovirinae . This study describes the development of a reverse-genetics system for APV. A minigenome system was used to optimize the expression of the nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, M2 and large polymerase proteins when transfected into Vero cells under the control of the bacteriophage T7 promoter. Subsequently, cDNA was transcribed from the virion RNA to make a...