Bluetongue is a serious economic disease, particularly of sheep.
Following attachment, the inner core is released into the cell. It is this core particle, some 700 in diameter, that contains all the information necessary for the production of a new generation of particles, that has been the subject of analysis at the atomic level by X-ray crystallography. The core is made up principally of two proteins. The RNA genome is synthesised as a series of segments which are then packed within the nascent virus particle in a highly organised way to ensure that it can function properly. Finally an outer capsid shell of newly synthesised proteins is added, completing the progeny virus structure.