The highly pathogenic Marburg virus (MARV) is a member of the Filoviridae family and belongs to the group of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses. Reverse genetics systems established for MARV have been used to study various aspects of the viral replication cycle, analyze host responses, image viral infection, and screen for antivirals. This article provides an overview of the currently established MARV reverse genetic systems based on minigenomes, infectious virus-like particles and full-length clones, and the research that has been conducted using these systems.
Keywords: Ebola virus; Marburg virus; biosafety level 4; filoviruses; full-length clones; minigenome; nonsegmented negative-sense RNA viruses; reverse genetics system; virus rescue; virus-like particles.