19Cellular and viral factors participate in the replication cycle of rotavirus. We report that the 20 guanine nucleotide exchange factor GBF1, which activates the small GTPase Arf1 to induce 21 COPI transport processes, is required for rotavirus replication since knocking down GBF1 22 3 IMPORTANCE 40 Rotavirus, a member of the family Reoviridae, is the major cause of severe diarrhea in 41 children and young animals worldwide. Despite the significant advances in the 42 characterization of the biology of this virus, the mechanisms involved in morphogenesis of 43 the virus particle are still poorly understood. In this work, we show that the guanine 44 nucleotide exchange factor GBF1, relevant for the COPI/Arf1-mediated cellular vesicular 45 transport, participates in the replication cycle of the virus, influencing the correct processing 46 of viral glycoproteins VP7 and NSP4, and the assembly of the virus surface proteins VP7 47 59 Rotaviruses, members of the family Reoviridae, are non-enveloped particles formed by three 60 concentric layers of proteins that surround the eleven genome segments of double-stranded 61 RNA (dsRNA). The innermost layer is composed of the core-shell proteinVP2 that encloses 62 the replication intermediates, composed of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase VP1, and 63 the guanylyl-methyl transferase, VP3. The intermediate layer is formed by VP6 that 64 surrounds the VP2 layer to form double-layered particles (DLPs). Finally, the addition of the 65 glycoprotein VP7 and the spike protein VP4 onto the DLPs forms the infectious triple-layered 66 particles (TLPs) (1, 2). 67 The replication of rotavirus occurs in cytoplasmic non-membranous electron-dense 68 inclusions termed viroplasms composed of NSP2, NSP5, VP1, VP2, VP6 and host 69 components (1, 3). The replication and packaging of the viral genome into newly synthesized 70DLPs take place in these inclusions (4), which then bud into the lumen of the endoplasmic 71 reticulum (ER) through membrane sites modified by the presence of NSP4 (5, 6). NSP4 is a 72 transmembrane ER glycoprotein with two N-linked high mannose glycosylated chains (7) 73 that play a crucial role in the last steps of rotavirus assembly. It has been shown that the 74 cytoplasm oriented-terminus of NSP4 associates with VP4 (8), and binds the VP6 on DLPs 75 acting as a receptor for these particles to mediate their budding into the ER (9, 10). Moreover, 76 NSP4 has been shown to also interact with VP7 through its N-terminus oriented to the ER 77 lumen (11, 12). It has been proposed that these interactions drive the incorporation of the 78 outer layer proteins into the transitory lipid envelope that DLPs acquire during ER membrane 79 budding; this envelope is removed in the lumen of the ER by an unknown process in which 80 NSP4 is eliminated while VP4 and VP7 are assembled to produce the final infectious TLPs 81 All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. . https://doi.org/10.110...