An attenuated Machupo virus with a disrupted L-segment intergenic region protects guinea pigs against lethal Guanarito virus infection.

ABSTRACT: Machupo virus (MACV) is a New World (NW) arenavirus and causative agent of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (HF). Here, we identified a variant of MACV strain Carvallo termed Car⁹¹ that was attenuated in guinea pigs. Infection of guinea pigs with an earlier passage of Carvallo, termed Car⁶⁸, resulted in a lethal disease with a 63% mortality rate. Sequencing analysis revealed that compared to Car⁶⁸, Car⁹¹ had a 35 nucleotide (nt) deletion and a point mutation within the L-segment intergenic region (IGR), and three silent changes in the polymerase gene that did not impact amino acid coding. No changes were found on the S-segment. Because it was apathogenic, we determined if Car⁹¹ could protect guinea pigs against Guanarito virus (GTOV), a dist

SUBMITTER: Golden JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5498534 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature