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Journal of Virology, March 2000, p. 2343-2350, Vol. 74, No. 5
Department of Microbiology, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, Oregon,1 and
Department of Microbiology, University of Maine, Orono,
Maine2
Received 22 July 1999/Accepted 1 December 1999
Snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV) affects warm water fish in
Southeast Asia and belongs to the genus Novirhabdovirus by
virtue of its nonvirion gene (NV). Because SHRV grows best at
temperatures between 28 and 31°C, we were able to use the T7
expression system to produce viable recombinant SHRV from a cloned cDNA
copy of the viral genome. Expression of a positive-strand RNA copy of the 11,550-nucleotide SHRV genome along with the viral nucleocapsid (N), phosphoprotein (P), and polymerase (L) proteins resulted in the
generation of infectious SHRV in cells preinfected with a vaccinia
virus vector for T7 polymerase expression. Recombinant virus production
was verified by detection of a unique restriction site engineered into
the SHRV genome between the NV and L genes. Since we were now able to
begin examining the function of the NV gene, we constructed a
recombinant virus containing a nonsense mutation located 22 codons into
the coding sequence of the NV protein. The NV knockout virus was
produced at a concentration as high as that of wild-type virus in
cultured fish cells, and the resulting virions appeared to be identical
to the wild-type virions in electron micrographs. These initial studies
suggest that NV has no critical function in SHRV replication in
cultured fish cells.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Production of Recombinant Snakehead Rhabdovirus:
the NV Protein Is Not Required for Viral Replication
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, Oregon State University, 220 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR
97331. Phone: (541) 737-1834. Fax: (541) 737-1841. E-mail:
leongj{at}orst.edu.
Technical paper 11623 of the Oregon State University Agricultural
Experiment Station.
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