Comparative and mutational analyses of promoter regions of rinderpest virus

Comparative and mutational analysis of promoter regions of rinderpest virus was conducted. Minigenomic RNAs harboring the genomic and antigenomic promoter of the lapinized virulent strain (Lv) or an attenuated vaccine strain (RBOK) were constructed, and the expression of the reporter gene was examined. The activities of the antigenomic promoters of these strains were similar, whereas the activity of the genomic promoter (GP) of the RBOK strain was significantly higher than that of the Lv strain, regardless of cell type and the source of the N, P and L proteins. Increased replication (and/or encapsidation) activities were observed in the minigenomes that contained RBOK GP. Mutational analysis revealed that the nucleotides specific to the RBOK strain are responsible for the strong GP activity of the strain. It was also demonstrated that other virulent strains of RPV (Kabete O, Saudi/81 and Kuwait 82/1) have weaker GPs than that of the RBOK strain.