''Duck hepatitis B virus'', abbreviated DHBV, is part of the genus ''

Avihepadnavirus ''Avihepadnavirus'' is a genus of viruses, in the family '' Hepadnaviridae''. Birds serve as natural hosts. There are three species in this genus. Diseases associated with this genus include: hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinomas (chronic infe ...

'' of the ''

Hepadnaviridae ''Hepadnaviridae'' is a family of viruses. Humans, apes, and birds serve as natural hosts. There are currently 18 species in this family, divided among 5 genera. Its best-known member is hepatitis B virus. Diseases associated with this family i ...

'', and is the causal agent of duck hepatitis B. DHBV is a small

DNA virus A DNA virus is a virus that has a genome made of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that is replicated by a DNA polymerase. They can be divided between those that have two strands of DNA in their genome, called double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses, and ...

with a diameter of 40–45 nm. The

viral envelope A viral envelope is the outermost layer of many types of viruses. It protects the genetic material in their life cycle when traveling between host cells. Not all viruses have envelopes. Numerous human pathogenic viruses in circulation are encase ...

is made up from host cell lipid, with viral surface antigens (DHBsAg). The icosahedral nucleocapsid within, is composed of the virus core antigen (DHBcAg) and surrounds the DNA

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...

and viral polymerase. The viral genome is a circular double stranded DNA molecule about 3000 base pairs long. The genome has three overlapping

open reading frame In molecular biology, open reading frames (ORFs) are defined as spans of DNA sequence between the start and stop codons. Usually, this is considered within a studied region of a prokaryotic DNA sequence, where only one of the six possible readin ...

s or ORFs: * C-ORF – encoding the core antigen and pre-core protein which are processed and secreted as DHBcAg * S-ORF – codes for the surface antigen DHBsAg * P-ORF – encoding the viral polymerase. On binding and

entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets *Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...

of the virus to the host cell, the genome is transported to the

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom * Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucl ...

to be transcribed. Novel viral RNA is then transferred to the cytoplasm for

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

and subsequent protein synthesis. ''Duck hepatitis B virus'' has provided a basis for the use of vaccines and prophylactic treatments for individuals at high risk of human ''

Hepatitis B virus ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) is a partially double-stranded DNA virus, a species of the genus '' Orthohepadnavirus'' and a member of the '' Hepadnaviridae'' family of viruses. This virus causes the disease hepatitis B. Disease Despite there b ...

'' (HBV). The virus has also provided as a useful

animal model An animal model (short for animal disease model) is a living, non-human, often genetic-engineered animal used during the research and investigation of human disease, for the purpose of better understanding the disease process without the risk of ha ...

in the absence of one from the HBV, and as scaffold for the development of chimeric virus-like particles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duck Hepatitis B Virus Hepadnaviridae Animal viral diseases Hepatitis B virus Poultry diseases