The replication of viral pathogens relies on their ability to manipulate their host. Several steps of the infectious cycle require the hijacking of cellular membranes. Positive stranded RNA viruses replicating in the cytoplasm of their host reorganize cellular membranes. This leads to the formation of organelles, which host viral replication. The formation of such compartments, which are genuine viral factories, induces morphological modifications of the host cell, which vary depending on the pathogen. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such a remodeling remain unclear. These mechanisms are subject to intense research since their formation is indispensable to viral multiplication and therefore represent an attractive therapeutic target. In this review, we provide a bird's eye view on the current knowledge of the architecture and virus-host interactions involved in the biogenesis of positive stranded RNA virus replication organelles.
Keywords: RNA virus; membranes; replication organelles; virus-host interactions.