Fabrication of oligonucleotide microarray for the detection of Japanese encephalitis virus

A low-density oligonucleotide microarray was used for the detection of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) , combining with restriction display PCR labeling method. The hybridization targets were amplified from 6 plasmids containing several JEV gene fragments. Corresponding oligonucleotide probe spots were detected unambiguously. We claim that the oligonucleotide microarray technology is feasible and may have potential for clinical laboratory application.     

Variability in the 3′ untranslated regions of the genomes of the different tick-borne encephalitis virus subtypes

Virus Genes - Tick-borne encephalitis viruses (TBEVs) are usually divided into three major subtypes: European (TBEV-Eu), Siberian (TBEV-Sib) and Far Eastern (TBEV-FE). The TBEV-Eu strains have the...     

Molecular characterization of a foot-and-mouth disease virus containing a 57-nucleotide insertion in the 3′untranslated region

A foot-and-mouth disease virus containing a 57-nucleotide (nt) insertion in the 3′untranslated region (3′UTR) was generated by transposon (tn)-mediated mutagenesis. Characterization of the mutant virus (A24-3′UTR8110) revealed no significant differences in virus growth, translation efficiency or virulence in cattle compared to the A24 wild-type virus. RNA modeling showed that the structures predicted in the 3′UTR were not affected by the tn insertion. These results revealed that the 3′UTR can tolerate foreign sequences that do not disrupt essential signals required for virus replication.     

Isolation and genome characterization of a novel duck Tembusu virus with a 74 nucleotide insertion in the 3′ non-translated region

During investigations into the outbreak of duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) infection in 2011 in China, a DTMUV strain (DTMUV-AH2011) was isolated from the affected ducks. The length of the genome of the DTMUV-AH2011 strain was found to be 11,064 nucleotides and to possess 10,278 nucleotides of one open reading frame (ORF), flanked by 94 nucleotides of the 5′ non-translated region (NTR) and 692 nucleotides of the 3′ NTR. In comparison with five fully sequenced TMUV genomes, the genome of DTMUV-AH2011 had a 74 nucleotide insertion in the 3′ NTR. Comparison of the DTMUV-AH2011 fully deduced amino acid sequences with those of other Tembusu virus strains reported recently in China showed they had a highly conserved polyprotein precursor, sharing 98.9% amino acid identities, at least. The overall divergences of amino acid substitutions were randomly distributed among viral proteins except for the protein NS4B, the protein NS4B was unchanged. Knowledge of the biological characters of DTMUV and the potential role of the insertion in the 3′ NTR in RNA replication will be useful for further studies of the mechanisms of virus replication and pathogenesis.     

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the 3′-terminal region of iris severe mosaic virus RNA

Summary Sequence analysis of iris severe mosaic potyvirus genomic RNA revealed an unusual E/G cleavage site between the deduced large nuclear-inclusion protein and coat protein sequences. The latter showed an N-terminus of only 15 amino acids. The 3 non-translated region of the viral RNA was 340 nucleotides long.     

Nucleotide sequence of the 3′-terminal region of citrus tatter leaf virus RNA

The 3-terminal sequence of citrus tatter leaf virus lily isolate (CTLV-L) was determined from cloned cDNA. The sequence contains two open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes a protein that contains consensus sequences associated with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. ORF2, which is in a different reading frame within ORF1, can encode a 36 kD protein, putatively identified as a movement protein. CTLV-L coat protein (CP) was found to be located in the C-terminal region of the polyprotein encoded by ORF1. Evolutionary relationships and classification of capilloviruses is discussed.The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to GenBank nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number D14455.     

Sequence of the 3′ half of the Murray Valley encephalitis virus genome and mapping of the nonstructural proteins NS1, NS3, and NS5

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the 3-terminal half of the RNA genome of Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVE) using seven overlapping cDNA clones; an estimated 80–90 nucleotides at the extreme 3-end remain to be sequenced. In conjunction with previous sequence data for the 5 half (16), we can conclude that the MVE genome contains a long open reading frame of 10,302 nucleotides that encodes a polyprotein of 3434 residues. Comparison of the MVE deduced amino acid sequence with that of other flaviviruses shows that MVE is most closely related to Japanese encephalitis virus, consistent with serological studies. Using N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis, three nonstructural proteins (NS1, NS3, and NS5) have been identified and mapped on the MVE genome. MVE NS3 contains sequence motifs suggesting that its amino terminus may function as a serine protease. The central region of NS3 (in the linear amino acid sequence) has motifs that are found in NTP-binding proteins and helicases. MVE NS5 contains a conserved Gly-Asp-Asp sequence that is thought to be essential for RNA-dependent RNA polymerases.     

Studies on the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of SA14 wild Japanese encephalitis virus and its attenuated viruses

The aim of this study was to explore the molecular basis for the attenuation of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccine strain SA14-14-2. The virulence of SA14 wild Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and its several attenuated viruses was tested by intracerebral (i.c.) or intraperitonial (i.p.) inoculation of 10-12 g mice. The stability of neuroattenuation was tested by one passage in suckling mouse brain. The E protein genes of those viruses were amplified by PCR, sequenced and compared. Three attenuated virus strains, SA14-14-2 vaccine virus, SA14-9-7 and SA14-5-3, did not exhibit lethal infections by i.c. or i.p. inoculation of 10-12 g mice and revert to the virulence. The other virus strain, SA14-12-1-7, showed no neuroinvasiveness by i.p. inoculation but residual neurovirulence by i.c. inoculation and reverted to high virulence after one brain passage. Comparison of the E protein gene sequences of the five virus strains indicated that there were differences of twelve nucleotides and eight amino acids between the parent strain SA14 and vaccine strain SA14-14-2, of which six amino acids (E-107, E-176, E-439, E-138, E-279, E-315) exhibited changes common to those of SA14-9-7 and SA14-5-3, three substitutions common to SA14-12-1-7. Two amino acid substitutions at the sites E177 (T→A) and E264 (Q→H) are unique to the SA14-14-2 vaccine virus. The results suggest that the mutations of E-107 (Leu→Phe), E-176 (He→Val), and E-439 (Lys→Arg) may contribute for the attenuation of neuroinvasiveness and partially for the attenuation of neurovirulence, the mutations of E-138, E-279, E-315 may not only critical to the neuroattenuation but also to its stability.     

Nucleotide sequence of the 3′ terminal region of the genome of four Lettuce mosaic virus isolates from Greece and Yemen

Summary.  Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) is an economically important Potyvirus causing a severe disease of commercial lettuce crops. Based on molecular data, three phylogenetic groups of isolates have previously been discriminated, reflecting their geographical origin (Western Europe-California, Greece, or Yemen). Sequence information for the entire coat protein domain was only available for one of the Western Europe-California phylogenetic group. We have now sequenced the 3′ terminal region of the genome LMV-Gr4, -Gr5 and -GrB, isolates which belong to the Greek phylogenetic group and of LMV-Yar, the sole known representative of the third LMV phylogenetic group. The region sequenced encodes the last 62 amino-acids of the polymerase and the entire coat protein of the four isolates, plus the 3′ non-translated region of LMV-Gr5 and -Yar. The Greek and Yemenite isolates studied are all very aggressive on lettuce, are able to overcome the resistance genes mo1 ¹ and mo1 ² and belong to the two phylogenetic groups which have so far been only partially characterised. As for other Potyviruses, the core and the C-terminal regions of the coat protein are highly conserved among all isolates whereas the N-terminus is more variable. No amino acid change in the coat protein or carboxy-terminal part of the polymerase could be related to the resistance-breaking properties of the isolates analysed. The sequences obtained provide the basis for the rapid typing of LMV isolates using the restriction pattern of segments of cDNA amplified by PCR. Received July 1, 1998 Accepted March 25, 1999     

Cloning of the 3′-terminal region encoding movement and coat proteins of a Korean isolate of odontoglossum ringspot virus

Summary The 3-terminal 1855 nucleotides (nts) of a Korean isolate of odontoglossum ringspot tobamovirus (ORSV-Cy) were cloned and sequenced. The sequence contained two open reading frames, which encode the cell-to-cell movement protein (MP) and coat protein genes, and are 912 nts and 477 nts long, respectively. The MP gene contained a conserved sequence motif of tobamoviruses and putative assembly origin of the viral RNA locating between 1117 nts and 1292 nts from the 3-end. The 3 untranslated region (UTR) of the virus comprises 414 nts, includes nine pseudoknots and a tRNA-like structure domain containing aminoacyl acceptor arm and the anticodon hairpin loop coding for histidine.The nucleotide sequence data for ORSV-Cy reported in this paper will appear in the EMBL, GenBANK and DDBJ nucleotide databases under the accession numbers X78966 and X80053.     

The confirmation of three repeated sequence elements in the 3′ untranslated region of Chikungunya virus

In this study, the complete genomic nucleotide sequence of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) strain S27 African prototype was determined and three 21 nucleotides repeated sequence elements (RSEs) at positions 11398–11418, 11533–11553, and 11620–11640 in the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) were confirmed. In addition, the 3′UTRs of all CHIKV strains deposited in GenBank were analyzed. The results displayed that the majority of the CHIKV strains consisted of the three 21 nucleotides RSEs in the 3′UTRs, and the third RSE was the most conservative. The conservation of the three RSEs of 21 nucleotides within the 3′UTR of CHIKV genome may play an important role on the virus replication cycle.     

Conserved nucleotides in the terminus of the 3′ UTR region are important for the replication and infectivity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

The 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR), including the poly (A) tail, reportedly plays an important role in arterivirus replication, but the roles of the cis-acting elements present in the 3′ UTR of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) remain largely unknown. In the present study, PCR-based mutagenic analysis was conducted on the 3′ UTR of PRRSV infectious full-length cDNA clone pAPRRS to investigate the structure and function of the conserved terminal nucleotides between the poly (A) tail and the 3′ UTR region. Our findings indicated that the conservation of the primary sequence of the 3′ terminal nucleotides, rather than the surrounding secondary structure, was vital for viral replication and infectivity. Four nucleotides (nt) (5′-¹⁵⁵¹⁷AAUU¹⁵⁵²⁰-3′) at the 3′ proximal end of the 3′ UTR and the dinucleotide 5′-AU-3′ exerted an important regulatory effect on viral viability. Of the five 3′-terminal nucleotides of the 3′ UTR (5′-¹⁵⁵⁰³AACCA¹⁵⁵⁰⁷-3′), at least three, including the last dinucleotide (5′-CA-3′), were essential for maintaining viral infectivity. Taken together, the 3′-terminal conserved sequence plays a critical role in PRRSV replication and may function as a contact site for specific assembly of the replication complex.     

Roles of the polypyrimidine tract and 3′ noncoding region of hepatitis C virus RNA in the internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation

Summary. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains a 3noncoding region (3NCR) consisting of a variable region, a polypyrimidine tract (polyU/UC) and the X region. To examine the roles of 3NCR and polyU/UC tract in the internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation process, a variety of 3NCRs containing different lengths of polyU/UC tract were obtained from HCV infected patients and cloned respectively to the downstream of the firefly luciferase coding gene linked to HCV 5NCR and 30 nucleotides of core gene (containing IRES element). The results of in vitro translation in rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL) and cell transfection assay in mammalian cells showed that the IRES-mediated translation efficiency could be enhanced by the full-length of 3NCR of HCV RNA. However, contradictory results were observed when the role of polyU/UC tract in the IRES-mediated translation was studied. While the IRES-mediated translation efficiency was inhibited by the presence of polyU/UC tract in in vitro translation experiments, transfection of these expression cassettes into hepatic cell line showed that polyU/UC tract enhanced IRES-mediated translation efficiency in vivo. Cellular-fraction complement experiments showed that cellular factors were required for the enhancement by the polyU/UC tract. Further antibody blocking assay and UV cross-linking assay suggested the correlation of IRES-mediated translation with host factors, including the La protein. The data above also indicated that the modulations of the IRES-mediated translation by the HCV 3NCR and the polyU/UC tract were in a length-independent manner.These authors contributed equally to this work.     

Sequence determination of the extreme 5′ end of equine arteritis virus leader region

The extreme 5 end of the leader sequence of four equine arteritis virus (EAV) strains was obtained by using rapid amplification of cDNA end method (5 RACE), and sequenced. Seventeen more nucleotides were added upstream of the 5 end of the EAV published genomic sequence. A common feature among the analyzed EAV isolates was the presence of an AUG start codon within the added sequence and the appearance of an intraleader open reading frame (ORF) of 111 nucleotides which was predicted to encode a peptide of 37 amino acids. The role of this putative intraleader ORF has yet to be determined.     

Nucleotide sequences and mutations of the 5′-nontranslated region (5′NTR) of natural isolates of an epidemic echovirus 11′ (prime)

Summary.  An echovirus 11′ (prime) virus caused an epidemic in Hungary in 1989. The leading clinical form of the diseases was myocarditis. Hemorrhagic hepatitis syndroms were also caused, however, with lethal outcome in 13 new-born babies. Altogether 386 children suffered from registered clinical disease. No accumulation of serous meningitis cases and intrauterine death were observed during the epidemic, and the monovalent oral poliovirus vaccination campaign has prevented the further circulation of the virus. The 5′-nontranslated region (5′-NTR) of 12 natural isolates were sequenced (nucleotides: 260–577). The 5′-NTR was found to be different from that of the prototype Gregory strain (X80059) of EV11 (less than 90% identity), but related to the swine vesicular disease virus (D16364) SVDV and EV9 (X92886) as indicated by the best fitting dendogram. The examination of the variable nucleotides in the internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) revealed, that the nucleotide sequence of a region of the epidemic 5′-NTR was identical to that of coxsackievirus B2. Five of the epidemic isolates were found to carry mutations. Seven EV11′ IRES elements possessed identical sequences indicating, that the virus has evolved before its arrival to Hungary. The comparative examination of the suboptimal secondary structures revealed, that no one of the mutations affected the secondary structure of stem-loop structures IV and V in the IRES elements. Although it has been shown previously, that the echovirus group is genetically coherent and related to coxsackie B viruses the sequence differences in the epidemic isolates resulted in profound modification of the central stem (residues 477–529) of stem-loop structure No.V known to be affecting neurovirulence of polioviruses. Two alternate cloverleaf (stem-loop) structures were also recognised (nucleotides 376 to 460 and 540 to 565) which seem to mask both regions of the IRES element complementary to the 3′-end of the 18 S rRNA (460 to 466 and 561 to 570), thus probably diminishing initiation of translation. The possible biological importance of the alternative cloverleaf structures is supported by the fact that neither the 17 variable nucleotides nor the two mutations of epidemic isolates within the regions seem to modify the predicted alternative secondary structures in EV11, SVDV and CBV1-4. Accepted May 31, 2000 Received July 21, 1999     

Determination of the 5′ and 3′ terminal noncoding sequences of the bi-segmented genome of the avibirnavirus infectious bursal disease virus

Summary Terminal sequences of the bi-segmented dsRNA genome of 3 different strains of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) were analyzed by the rapid amplification of cDNA 5 ends (5RACE) procedure. Both segments are 85% homologous in a 32-nucleotide sequence comprising the 5 end, whereas the 3 end has a conserved pentamer. Comparison to published terminal sequences of other IBDV strains revealed high conservation between the two segments but more serotype-specific nucleotide changes (5 on segment A and 3 on segment B) in the 5 noncoding region compared to the 3 noncoding region (none on segment A and 1 on segment B).     

Completion of the full-length genome sequence of Menangle virus: characterisation of the polymerase gene and genomic 5′ trailer region

Summary. Menangle virus (MenV), isolated in 1997 from stillborn piglets during an outbreak of reproductive disease at a large commercial piggery, is the only new paramyxovirus to be identified in Australia since Hendra virus in 1994. Following partial characterisation of the MenV genome, we previously showed that MenV is a novel member of the genus Rubulavirus. Here we report the characterisation of the large (L) polymerase gene and the adjacent 5′ trailer region of MenV, which completes the full-length genome sequence of this novel paramyxovirus (15,516 nucleotides), and thereby confirm its taxonomic position within the family Paramyxoviridae.