Viral infection of cells is a highly intricate process that involves the complex virus-cell interactions. Recently, virologists can monitor the virus life cycle at the primary infection site in real-time using various virus tracking techniques. Herpesviruses, a class of large enveloped DNA viruses, are important pathogens threatening the health of humans and animals. This review discussed the applications of different virus tracking techniques in herpesvirus studies, to provide new insights into virus-cell interactions and replication mechanisms of herpesviruses. Though the techniques have widely been exploited, some issues need to be addressed, such as the selection of the optimal site to insert reporters and the inability to track the whole process of the virus life cycle. With the updated tracking techniques, hopefully, more complex replication mechanismsof herpesviruses will be revealed in detail.
病毒感染宿主细胞是一个非常复杂的过程，涉及病毒与多种宿主成分的相互作用。目前通过可视化病毒示踪技术可对病毒复制周期的各个过程进行实时、原位观察。疱疹病毒是一类有囊膜的DNA 病毒，在自然界中广泛存在，对人类和动物健康构成严重威胁。文中综述了病毒示踪技术在疱疹病毒研究中的应用。这些研究为认识疱疹病毒的感染、复制机制以及病毒与宿主相互作用的过程开拓了新的视野。但该技术还不是十分完善，包括标记物最佳插入位点的选择、无法示踪病毒生命周期的全过程等。相信随着相关技术的发展与进步，会实现对疱疹病毒复制周期更加详细地追踪，从而更为详尽地揭示其复制机制。.
Keywords: fluorescent protein; herpesvirus; latent infection; replication; transport in axon; virus tracking techniques.