Orsay δ Protein Is Required for Nonlytic Viral Egress

Abstract

An important step of the viral life cycle is how viruses exit from host cells to spread to other cells. Certain nonenveloped viruses can exit cultured cells in nonlytic ways; however, such nonlytic exit has not been demonstrated in vivo . In addition, it is not clear how such nonlytic exit is achieved mechanistically in vivo . Orsay virus is a nonenveloped RNA virus that infects the intestine cells of the nematode C. elegans . It is currently the only virus known to naturally infect C. elegans . Using this in vivo model, we show that the δ protein encoded by Orsay virus facilitates the nonlytic exit of the virus, possibly by interacting with host actin on the apical side of worm intestine cells.