The Rhabdoviridae contains numerous arthropod-transmitted viruses, some of which infect vertebrates and some of which infect plants, as well as rabies virus and its relatives. The prototype rhabdovirus, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), has been extensively studied at the molecular level due to its small simple genome and robust growth in cell culture.

Our group has concentrated on a relative of VSV, Chandipura virus (CV), which can be used in the UK without the DEFRA restrictions which apply to VSV. We have sequenced the CV genome, as well as that of the related Isfahan virus, and have developed a reverse genetics system to allow us to study the interactions of the virus proteins with each other and with host cell proteins.

^{Plaques of CV on mammalian cells.}

 Questions which we aim to address include;

• How does CV suppress the host innate immune response in mammalian cells?
• How does CV survive in persistently infected insect cells?
• Which host proteins are required for CV replication within the cytoplasm of infected cells?