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Journal of Virology, May 2004, p. 4931-4935, Vol. 78, No. 9
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.9.4931-4935.2004

Mutagenesis of Tyrosine 24 in the VPg Protein Is Lethal for Feline Calicivirus

Tanaji Mitra, Stanislav V. Sosnovtsev, and Kim Y. Green*

Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Received 3 July 2003/ Accepted 16 January 2004

The genome of feline calicivirus (FCV) is an ~7.7-kb single-stranded positive-sense RNA molecule that is polyadenylated at its 3' end and covalently linked to a VPg protein (calculated mass, 12.6 kDa) at its 5' end. We performed a mutational analysis of the VPg protein in order to identify amino acids potentially involved in linkage to the genome and replication. The tyrosine residues at positions 12, 24, 76, and 104 were changed to alanines by mutagenesis of an infectious FCV cDNA clone. Viruses were recovered when Tyr-12, Tyr-76, or Tyr-104 of the VPg protein was changed to alanine, but virus was not recovered when Tyr-24 was changed to alanine. Growth properties of the recovered viruses were similar to those of the parental virus. We examined whether the amino acids serine, threonine, and phenylalanine could substitute for the tyrosine at position 24, but these mutations were lethal as well. A tyrosine at this relative position is conserved among all calicivirus VPg proteins examined thus far, suggesting that the VPg protein of caliciviruses, like those of picornaviruses and potyviruses, utilizes tyrosine in the formation of a covalent bond with RNA.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, NIAID/LID, Building 50, Room 6318, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892-8026. Phone: (301) 594-1665. Fax: (301) 480-5031. E-mail: kgreen{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Journal of Virology, May 2004, p. 4931-4935, Vol. 78, No. 9
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.9.4931-4935.2004




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