Differences in Processing Determinants of Nonstructural Polyprotein and in the Sequence of Nonstructural Protein 3 Affect Neurovirulence of Semliki Forest Virus.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

The A7(74) strain of Semliki Forest virus (SFV; genus Alphavirus) is avirulent in adult mice, while the L10 strain is virulent in mice of all ages. It has been previously demonstrated that this phenotypic difference is associated with nonstructural protein 3 (nsP3). Consensus clones of L10 (designated SFV6) and A7(74) (designated A774wt) were used to construct a panel of recombinant viruses. The insertion of nsP3 from A774wt into the SFV6 backbone had a minor effect on the virulence of the resulting recombinant virus. Conversely, insertion of nsP3 from SFV6 into the A774wt backbone or replacement of A774wt nsP3 with two copies of nsP3 from SFV6 resulted in virulent viruses. Unexpectedly, duplication of nsP3-encoding sequences also resulted in elevated levels of nsP4, rev

SUBMITTER: Saul S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4621116 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature