Abstract
The rotavirus genome is composed of 11 segments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Rotavirus is the leading etiological agent of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. Reverse genetics is the powerful and ideal methodology for the molecular study of virus replication, which enables the virus genome to be artificially manipulated. Very recently, we developed the first reverse genetics system for rotavirus, which enables one to generate an infectious rotavirus containing a novel gene segment derived from cDNA. In this review, we describe each steps of rotavirus replication to understand the background to the establishment of a reverse genetics system for rotavirus, and summarize the reverse genetics systems for segmented dsRNA viruses including rotavirus.
