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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Production of High-Titer Infectious Influenza Pseudotyped Particles with Envelope Glycoproteins from Highly Pathogenic H5N1 and Avian H7N9 Viruses

Production of High-Titer Infectious Influenza Pseudotyped Particles with Envelope Glycoproteins from Highly Pathogenic H5N1 and Avian H7N9 Viruses

Published on: January 15, 2020

Influenza A virus reassortment.

John Steel¹, Anice C Lowen

¹Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology

|July 11, 2014

Summary

Influenza viruses swap gene segments through reassortment, generating vast diversity crucial for viral evolution. Recent studies reveal reassortment's role in influenza A virus history and epidemiology.

Area of Science:

Virology
Epidemiology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Influenza viruses possess segmented genomes, enabling gene segment exchange.
Reassortment occurs when two distinct influenza viruses co-infect a single host cell.
This genetic process generates significant viral diversity, impacting viral evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent insights into the role of reassortment in the natural history and epidemiology of influenza A viruses.
To describe laboratory methods for studying influenza virus reassortment.
To summarize experimental progress in understanding influenza reassortment contexts.

Main Methods:

Population-scale phylogenetic analyses to study reassortment in natural influenza A virus populations.

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Published on: January 15, 2020

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Laboratory-based experimental approaches to investigate the mechanisms and contexts of reassortment.

Main Results:

Phylogenetic analyses have illuminated the contribution of reassortment to influenza A virus evolution and epidemiology.
Experimental studies have advanced the understanding of how and when influenza virus reassortment occurs.

Conclusions:

Reassortment is a key driver of influenza A virus diversity and evolution.
Continued research using both population-level and experimental methods is vital for understanding influenza virus dynamics.