Bluetongue virus VP6 acts early in the replication cycle and can form the basis of chimeric virus formation.

ABSTRACT: A minor core protein, VP6, of bluetongue virus (BTV) possesses nucleoside triphosphatase, RNA binding, and helicase activities. Although the enzymatic functions of VP6 have been documented in vitro using purified protein, its definitive role in BTV replication remains unclear. In this study, using a recently developed T7 transcript-based reverse genetics system for BTV, we examined the importance of VP6 in virus replication. We show that VP6 is active early in replication, consistent with a role as part of the transcriptase or packaging complex, and that its action can be provided in trans by a newly developed complementary cell line. Furthermore, the genomic segment encoding VP6 was mutated to reveal the cis-acting sequences required for replication or packaging, which subsequently enable

SUBMITTER: Matsuo E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2738189 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature