science

Mesoniviridae

Mesoniviridae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mesoniviridae rather than just read about it. In short: Mesoniviridae is a family of enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses in the order Nidovirales which infect mosquitoes. The family is named after the size of the genomes relative to other nidoviruses, with meso- coming from the Greek word mesos, which means medium, and -ni being an abbreviation of nido.

Key takeaways

Mesoniviridae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mesoniviridae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mesoniviridae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mesoniviridae is a family of enveloped, positive-strand RNA viruses in the order Nidovirales which infect mosquitoes. The family is named after the size of the genomes relative to other nidoviruses, with meso- coming from the Greek word mesos, which means medium, and -ni being an abbreviation of nido.

History The family is relatively new, having only been discovered in 2011. The first virus, which was named Nam Dinh virus, was found in the Vietnamese province of Nam Định. The second virus, named Cavally virus, was then found in Côte d'Ivoire. These two viruses were later found to be of the same species. A third member of this first species, named Dak Nong virus, was later found in Culex tritaeniorhynchus populations in Vietnam. In 2013, four more mesoniviruses were discovered in mosquito populations, all within Côte d'Ivoire, and in 2014 four mesoniviruses were discovered in mosquito populations in Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Virology

Structure Members of this family are enveloped, spherical in shape and 60–80 nm in diameter with club-shaped surface spikes. There are eight major structural proteins, including a nucleocapsid protein (25 kDa in weight), four differentially glycosylated forms of the membrane protein (20, 19, 18 and 17 kDa) and the spike (S) protein (77 kDa), which is cleaved to produce two S protein subunits (23 and 57 kDa).

Genome

The genomes are linear, positive-sense, polycistronic, single-stranded RNA, and are about 20,000 nucleotides in length, with a 3' poly(A) tail and seven major open reading frames (ORFs). Two overlapping ORFs, together known as ORF1ab, are at the 5'-end, encoding the major non-structural proteins and are expressed as a fusion protein by ribosomal frameshift. ORFs 1a and 1b contain six replicase domains, as well as the 3'-5' exoribonuclease (ExoN) that controls RNA replication fidelity and a 2'-O-methyltransferase, both of which are found in larger nidoviruses. ORF 1b also encodes an N7-methyltransferase.

Taxonomy

Mesoniviridae is a member of the order Nidovirales, an order of +ssRNA viruses with animal hosts. The family has three subfamilies that contain four genera (-virinae denotes subfamily and -genus denotes genus):

Hexponivirinae Alphamesonivirus Menanivirinae Nasenivirus Metotonivirinae Tocinivirus Tofonivirus The discovery and phylogenetic analysis of four additional mesoniviruses in 2013, named Hana virus, Méno virus, Nsé virus and Moumo virus, has suggested that they represent at least three new species of mesoniviruses. Additionally, in 2014 four potentially new species were discovered in Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand, named Casuarina virus, Karang Sari virus, Bontag Baru virus, and Kamphaeng Phet virus, respectively.

References

External links Notes on Family:Mesoniviridae

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mesoniviridae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mesoniviridae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mesoniviridae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mesoniviridae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mesoniviridae

In research: Mesoniviridae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mesoniviridae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mesoniviridae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Nidovirales, Virus families, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mesoniviridae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mesoniviridae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mesoniviridae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mesoniviridae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mesoniviridae in simple terms?

Why does Mesoniviridae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mesoniviridae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mesoniviridae.