Highly pathogenic coronavirus(HPC) is characterized by high incidence, high mortality and global pandemic, it seriously threatens human health and poses great challenge to social economy. At present, the pathogenic mechanism of HPC is mainly discussed from two aspects:the direct cytopathic effect and indirect immunopathological damage, but the study of specific acting genes still needs further in-depth research. In this paper, the relationship between gene structure characteristics and pathogenic mechanism of HPC is reviewed, so as to provide refe-rence for the prevention and treatment of HPC infection.