This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Monroe, S S Articles by Strauss, J H Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Monroe, S S Articles by Strauss, J H

Sequence analysis of cDNA's derived from the RNA of Sindbis virions and of defective interfering particles.

ABSTRACT

Sindbis virus generates defective interfering (DI) particles during serial high-multiplicity passage in cultured cells. These DI particles inhibit the replication of infectious virus and can be an important factor in the establishment and maintenance of persistent infection in BHK cells. In an effort to understand how these DI particles are generated and how they interfere with the replication of standard virus, we performed a partial sequence analysis of the RNA obtained from two independently isolated populations of DI particles and from two Sindbis virus variants and compared these with the RNA of the parental wild-type virus. The 3'-terminal regions of the RNAs were sequenced by the dideoxy chain terminating method. Internal regions of the RNA were examined by restriction endonuclease digestion of cDNA's made to the various RNAs and by direct chemical sequencing of 5' end-labeled restriction fragments from cDNA made to the DI RNAs. One of the variant viruses examined was originally derived from cells persistently infected with Sindbis virus for 16 months and is resistant to interference by the DI strains used. In the 3'-terminal region of the RNA from this variant, only two base changes were found; one of these occurs in the 20-nucleotide 3'-terminal sequence which is highly conserved among alphaviruses. The DI RNA sequences were found to have been produced not by a single deletional event, but by multiple deletion steps combined with sequence rearrangements; all sequences examined are derived from the plus strand of Sindbis virion RNA. Both DI RNAs had at least 50 nucleotides of wild-type sequence conserved at the 3' terminus; in addition, they both contained conserved and perhaps amplified sequences derived from the non-26S region of the genome which may be of importance in their replication and interference ability.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Fayzulin, R., Gorchakov, R., Petrakova, O., Volkova, E., Frolov, I. (2005). Sindbis Virus with a Tricomponent Genome. J. Virol. 79: 637-643 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fayzulin, R., Frolov, I. (2004). Changes of the Secondary Structure of the 5' End of the Sindbis Virus Genome Inhibit Virus Growth in Mosquito Cells and Lead to Accumulation of Adaptive Mutations. J. Virol. 78: 4953-4964 [Abstract] [Full Text]