Dear Colleagues,

Viruses with RNA genomes are highly diverse, both in their host range (human, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria) and in their genomic strategies. These include single stranded RNA of both polarity and double-stranded RNA molecules and in addition genomes can be single or multi-segmented. Irrespective of the strategies used a common problem for all RNA viruses is the specific packaging of their genomes into newly assembled virus particles and the exclusion of host RNA. This process requires specific RNA packaging signals, segregated away from the signals involved in genome replication. Two packaging strategies have been discussed for RNA viruses based around the findings that some viruses assemble their capsomers around the genome to form the final capsid, while others form procapsids first and then package their genome into them. Recent data suggests that for at least some viruses, packaging of the RNA genome relies on specific interactions between structural proteins or protein precursors with genomic RNA while in other inter-molecular interactions between RNA segments may drive the packaging process.  Recent methodological developments in structural biology and biochemistry, along with next generation sequencing, have combined with more classical approaches and are rapidly building our understanding of genome selection and packaging in RNA viruses. The goal of this Special Issue is to highlight these advances with a mix of review and original research articles.

Dr. Roland Marquet
Prof. Dr. Polly Roy
Guest Editors

• genomic RNA;
• packaging;
• encapsidation;
• capsid;
• procapsid;
• nucleocapsid;
• nucleoprotein;
• RNA-protein interactions;
• RNA-RNA interactions