= Vesicular stomatitis virus
<Vesicular stomatitis virus> is a name used for closely related enveloped <RNA> viruses in <Rhabdoviridae>, notably the Indiana and New Jersey viruses. Their bullet-shaped particles contain a single <Negative-sense RNA> genome and associated viral proteins. The <viral envelope> is a lipid membrane bearing viral surface proteins; particle shape and genome organization are separate aspects of its structure.<Vesiculovirus report by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses>[Morphology, Nucleic acid and named vesicular stomatitis viruses]{ref}
Negative sense means that the genomic <RNA> is complementary to the message read during <translation (biology)>. It cannot serve directly as the ordinary protein-coding message. An <RNA-dependent RNA polymerase> produces complementary transcripts, making the enzyme's presence in the incoming particle mechanistically important.
In 1970, a primary study detected an enzyme in vesicular-stomatitis virions that incorporated ribonucleotides into new <RNA>. The product was predominantly complementary to viral genomic <RNA>. This supplied biochemical evidence for a carried transcription activity, rather than inferring the replication strategy solely from the host cell's later protein production.<Ribonucleic acid synthesis of vesicular stomatitis virus, II. An RNA polymerase in the virion by D. Baltimore and others>[Abstract: virion-associated polymerase and complementary reaction product]{ref}
The virus also served as a cell-surface reporter: its basolateral budding in polarized epithelial cells contrasted with apical influenza budding.<Asymmetric budding of viruses in epithelial monlayers: a model system for study of epithelial polarity by E. Rodriguez Boulan and D. D. Sabatini>[Abstract]{ref} Its usefulness as an experimental probe does not mean every laboratory strain, host cell or related vesiculovirus has interchangeable properties.
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