This Article Full Text 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 Dawe, S. Articles by Duncan, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dawe, S. Articles by Duncan, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, March 2002, p. 2131-2140, Vol. 76, No. 5
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/jvi.76.5.2131-2140.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The S4 Genome Segment of Baboon Reovirus Is Bicistronic and Encodes a Novel Fusion-Associated Small Transmembrane Protein

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H7, Canada

Received 17 August 2001/ Accepted 15 November 2001

We demonstrate that the S4 genome segment of baboon reovirus (BRV) contains two sequential partially overlapping open reading frames (ORFs), both of which are functional in vitro and in virus-infected cells. The 15-kDa gene product (p15) of the 5"-proximal ORF induces efficient cell-cell fusion when expressed by itself in transfected cells, suggesting that p15 is the only viral protein required for induction of syncytium formation by BRV. The p15 protein is a small, hydrophobic, basic, integral membrane protein, properties shared with the p10 fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) proteins encoded by avian reovirus and Nelson Bay reovirus. As with p10, the BRV p15 protein is also a nonstructural protein and, therefore, is not involved in virus entry. Sequence analysis indicates that p15 shares no significant sequence similarity with the p10 FAST proteins and contains a unique repertoire and arrangement of sequence-predicted structural and functional motifs. These motifs include a functional N-terminal myristylation consensus sequence, an N-proximal proline-rich motif, two potential transmembrane domains, and an intervening polybasic region. The unique structural properties of p15 suggest that this protein is a novel member of the new family of FAST proteins.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Corcoran, J. A., Salsman, J., de Antueno, R., Touhami, A., Jericho, M. H., Clancy, E. K., Duncan, R. (2006). The p14 Fusion-associated Small Transmembrane (FAST) Protein Effects Membrane Fusion from a Subset of Membrane Microdomains. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 31778-31789 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Salsman, J., Top, D., Boutilier, J., Duncan, R. (2005). Extensive Syncytium Formation Mediated by the Reovirus FAST Proteins Triggers Apoptosis-Induced Membrane Instability. J. Virol. 79: 8090-8100 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dawe, S., Corcoran, J. A., Clancy, E. K., Salsman, J., Duncan, R. (2005). Unusual Topological Arrangement of Structural Motifs in the Baboon Reovirus Fusion-Associated Small Transmembrane Protein. J. Virol. 79: 6216-6226 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Costas, C., Martinez-Costas, J., Bodelon, G., Benavente, J. (2005). The Second Open Reading Frame of the Avian Reovirus S1 Gene Encodes a Transcription-Dependent and CRM1-Independent Nucleocytoplasmic Shuttling Protein. J. Virol. 79: 2141-2150 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Corcoran, J. A., Syvitski, R., Top, D., Epand, R. M., Epand, R. F., Jakeman, D., Duncan, R. (2004). Myristoylation, a Protruding Loop, and Structural Plasticity Are Essential Features of a Nonenveloped Virus Fusion Peptide Motif. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 51386-51394 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Shmulevitz, M., Corcoran, J., Salsman, J., Duncan, R. (2004). Cell-Cell Fusion Induced by the Avian Reovirus Membrane Fusion Protein Is Regulated by Protein Degradation. J. Virol. 78: 5996-6004 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Corcoran, J. A., Duncan, R. (2004). Reptilian Reovirus Utilizes a Small Type III Protein with an External Myristylated Amino Terminus To Mediate Cell-Cell Fusion. J. Virol. 78: 4342-4351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Shmulevitz, M., Salsman, J., Duncan, R. (2003). Palmitoylation, Membrane-Proximal Basic Residues, and Transmembrane Glycine Residues in the Reovirus p10 Protein Are Essential for Syncytium Formation. J. Virol. 77: 9769-9779 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• van Niekerk, M., Freeman, M., Paweska, J. T., Howell, P. G., Guthrie, A. J., Potgieter, A. C., van Staden, V., Huismans, H. (2003). Variation in the NS3 gene and protein in South African isolates of bluetongue and equine encephalosis viruses. J. Gen. Virol. 84: 581-590 [Abstract] [Full Text]