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

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, March 2005, p. 3391-3400, Vol. 79, No. 6
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.6.3391-3400.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Single-Amino-Acid Substitutions in Open Reading Frame (ORF) 1b-nsp14 and ORF 2a Proteins of the Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus Are Attenuating in Mice

Steven M. Sperry,1,2 Lubna Kazi,3 Rachel L. Graham,2,4 Ralph S. Baric,5 Susan R. Weiss,3 and Mark R. Denison1,2,4*

Departments of Pediatrics,1 Microbiology and Immunology,4 Elizabeth B. Lamb Center for Pediatric Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee,2 Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina5

Received 27 August 2004/ Accepted 1 November 2004

A reverse genetic system was recently established for the coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus strain A59 (MHV-A59), in which cDNA fragments of the RNA genome are assembled in vitro into a full-length genome cDNA, followed by electroporation of in vitro-transcribed genome RNA into cells with recovery of viable virus. The "in vitro-assembled" wild-type MHV-A59 virus (icMHV-A59) demonstrated replication identical to laboratory strains of MHV-A59 in tissue culture; however, icMHV-A59 was avirulent following intracranial inoculation of C57BL/6 mice. Sequencing of the cloned genome cDNA fragments identified two single-nucleotide mutations in cloned genome fragment F, encoding a Tyr6398His substitution in open reading frame (ORF) 1b p59-nsp14 and a Leu94Pro substitution in the ORF 2a 30-kDa protein. The mutations were repaired individually and together in recombinant viruses, all of which demonstrated wild-type replication in tissue culture. Following intracranial inoculation of mice, the viruses encoding Tyr6398His/Leu94Pro substitutions and the Tyr6398His substitution alone demonstrated log10 50% lethal dose (LD50) values too great to be measured. The Leu94Pro mutant virus had reduced but measurable log10 LD50, and the "corrected" Tyr6398/Leu94 virus had a log10 LD50 identical to wild-type MHV-A59. The experiments have defined residues in ORF 1b and ORF 2a that attenuate virus replication and virulence in mice but do not affect in vitro replication. The results suggest that these proteins serve roles in pathogenesis or virus survival in vivo distinct from functions in virus replication. The study also demonstrates the usefulness of the reverse genetic system to confirm the role of residues or proteins in coronavirus replication and pathogenesis.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, D6217 MCN, Nashville, TN 37232-2581. Phone: (615) 343-9881. Fax: (615) 343-9723. E-mail: mark.denison{at}vanderbilt.edu.


Journal of Virology, March 2005, p. 3391-3400, Vol. 79, No. 6
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.6.3391-3400.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Roth-Cross, J. K., Stokes, H., Chang, G., Chua, M. M., Thiel, V., Weiss, S. R., Gorbalenya, A. E., Siddell, S. G. (2009). Organ-Specific Attenuation of Murine Hepatitis Virus Strain A59 by Replacement of Catalytic Residues in the Putative Viral Cyclic Phosphodiesterase ns2. J. Virol. 83: 3743-3753 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Miknis, Z. J., Donaldson, E. F., Umland, T. C., Rimmer, R. A., Baric, R. S., Schultz, L. W. (2009). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus nsp9 Dimerization Is Essential for Efficient Viral Growth. J. Virol. 83: 3007-3018 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, Y., Cai, H., Pan, J., Xiang, N., Tien, P., Ahola, T., Guo, D. (2009). Functional screen reveals SARS coronavirus nonstructural protein nsp14 as a novel cap N7 methyltransferase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 3484-3489 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eriksson, K. K., Cervantes-Barragan, L., Ludewig, B., Thiel, V. (2008). Mouse Hepatitis Virus Liver Pathology Is Dependent on ADP-Ribose-1''-Phosphatase, a Viral Function Conserved in the Alpha-Like Supergroup. J. Virol. 82: 12325-12334 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sparks, J. S., Donaldson, E. F., Lu, X., Baric, R. S., Denison, M. R. (2008). A Novel Mutation in Murine Hepatitis Virus nsp5, the Viral 3C-Like Proteinase, Causes Temperature-Sensitive Defects in Viral Growth and Protein Processing. J. Virol. 82: 5999-6008 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tekes, G., Hofmann-Lehmann, R., Stallkamp, I., Thiel, V., Thiel, H.-J. (2008). Genome Organization and Reverse Genetic Analysis of a Type I Feline Coronavirus. J. Virol. 82: 1851-1859 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eckerle, L. D., Lu, X., Sperry, S. M., Choi, L., Denison, M. R. (2007). High Fidelity of Murine Hepatitis Virus Replication Is Decreased in nsp14 Exoribonuclease Mutants. J. Virol. 81: 12135-12144 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sparks, J. S., Lu, X., Denison, M. R. (2007). Genetic Analysis of Murine Hepatitis Virus nsp4 in Virus Replication. J. Virol. 81: 12554-12563 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Goebel, S. J., Miller, T. B., Bennett, C. J., Bernard, K. A., Masters, P. S. (2007). A Hypervariable Region within the 3' cis-Acting Element of the Murine Coronavirus Genome Is Nonessential for RNA Synthesis but Affects Pathogenesis. J. Virol. 81: 1274-1287 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Navas-Martin, S., Brom, M., Chua, M.-M., Watson, R., Qiu, Z., Weiss, S. R. (2007). Replicase Genes of Murine Coronavirus Strains A59 and JHM Are Interchangeable: Differences in Pathogenesis Map to the 3' One-Third of the Genome. J. Virol. 81: 1022-1026 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sawicki, S. G., Sawicki, D. L., Siddell, S. G. (2007). A Contemporary View of Coronavirus Transcription. J. Virol. 81: 20-29 [Full Text]  
  • Graham, R. L., Denison, M. R. (2006). Replication of Murine Hepatitis Virus Is Regulated by Papain-Like Proteinase 1 Processing of Nonstructural Proteins 1, 2, and 3. J. Virol. 80: 11610-11620 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Minskaia, E., Hertzig, T., Gorbalenya, A. E., Campanacci, V., Cambillau, C., Canard, B., Ziebuhr, J. (2006). Discovery of an RNA virus 3'->5' exoribonuclease that is critically involved in coronavirus RNA synthesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 5108-5113 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Weiss, S. R., Navas-Martin, S. (2005). Coronavirus Pathogenesis and the Emerging Pathogen Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 69: 635-664 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yount, B., Roberts, R. S., Sims, A. C., Deming, D., Frieman, M. B., Sparks, J., Denison, M. R., Davis, N., Baric, R. S. (2005). Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Group-Specific Open Reading Frames Encode Nonessential Functions for Replication in Cell Cultures and Mice. J. Virol. 79: 14909-14922 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Graham, R. L., Sims, A. C., Brockway, S. M., Baric, R. S., Denison, M. R. (2005). The nsp2 Replicase Proteins of Murine Hepatitis Virus and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Are Dispensable for Viral Replication. J. Virol. 79: 13399-13411 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Putics, A., Filipowicz, W., Hall, J., Gorbalenya, A. E., Ziebuhr, J. (2005). ADP-Ribose-1"-Monophosphatase: a Conserved Coronavirus Enzyme That Is Dispensable for Viral Replication in Tissue Culture. J. Virol. 79: 12721-12731 [Abstract] [Full Text]