Abstract
Caliciviruses are non-enveloped, isometric particles 30-40 nm in diameter. They contain an RNA genome of positive sense and replicate in the cytoplasm, causing cell lysis. Host cell requirements may be exacting; for example, human calicivirus (HCV) has been grown only in primary human embryonic kidney cell cultures. Other species are less demanding: San Miguel sea lion virus (SMSV) and vesicular exanthema of swine virus (VESV) are probably the same virus that can infect either host and multiply well in different cell lines in vitro. Virus has been spread experimentally by contact, faecal-orally and through contaminated foodstuffs. This chapter discusses the chemical, physical, and structura characteristics. The fine details of the virus architecture are largely unknown but both VESV and feline calicivirus (FCV) dissociate partially on storage or under acid conditions into small subunits. The chapter also discusses the antigenic and biological properties of viruses.
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