Development and characterization of a reverse genetics system for the lineage II Chicava strain of Machupo virus in a guinea pig model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Machupo virus (MACV) is a New World mammarenavirus (hereafter referred to as "arenavirus") and the etiologic agent of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (BHF). No vaccine or antiviral therapy exists for BHF, which causes up to 35% mortality in humans. New World arenaviruses evolve separately in different locations. To date, up to eight lineages of MACV have been identified in Bolivia. While the prototype MACV Carvallo strain belongs to lineage I discovered in the Memore Province in the 1960s, the MACV lineage II strains have become the dominantly-circulating lineage in the same province since 1993.

Methods

We report the development of a reverse genetics system for the MACV lineage II Chicava strain, using a pRF42 plasmid encoding the L and S segment genomic RNA under the

SUBMITTER: Mantlo E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11778707 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature