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
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Baquerizo-Audiot, E.
Right arrow Articles by Bergoin, M.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Baquerizo-Audiot, E.
Right arrow Articles by Bergoin, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, July 2009, p. 6863-6873, Vol. 83, No. 13
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00524-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Structure and Expression Strategy of the Genome of Culex pipiens Densovirus, a Mosquito Densovirus with an Ambisense Organization {triangledown}

Elizabeth Baquerizo-Audiot,1,{dagger} Adly Abd-Alla,1,2,{dagger} Françoise-Xavière Jousset,1 François Cousserans,1 Peter Tijssen,3 and Max Bergoin1*

Laboratoire de Pathologie Comparée, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France,1 Department of Pests and Plant Protection, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt,2 INRS Institut Armand Frappier, Université du Québec, Laval, Québec, Canada3

Received 13 March 2009/ Accepted 13 April 2009

The genome of all densoviruses (DNVs) so far isolated from mosquitoes or mosquito cell lines consists of a 4-kb single-stranded DNA molecule with a monosense organization (genus Brevidensovirus, subfamily Densovirinae). We previously reported the isolation of a Culex pipiens DNV (CpDNV) that differs significantly from brevidensoviruses by (i) having a ~6-kb genome, (ii) lacking sequence homology, and (iii) lacking antigenic cross-reactivity with Brevidensovirus capsid polypeptides. We report here the sequence organization and transcription map of this virus. The cloned genome of CpDNV is 5,759 nucleotides (nt) long, and it possesses an inverted terminal repeat (ITR) of 285 nt and an ambisense organization of its genes. The nonstructural (NS) proteins NS-1, NS-2, and NS-3 are located in the 5' half of one strand and are organized into five open reading frames (ORFs) due to the split of both NS-1 and NS-2 into two ORFs. The ORF encoding capsid polypeptides is located in the 5' half of the complementary strand. The expression of NS proteins is controlled by two promoters, P7 and P17, driving the transcription of a 2.4-kb mRNA encoding NS-3 and of a 1.8-kb mRNA encoding NS-1 and NS-2, respectively. The two NS mRNAs species are spliced off a 53-nt sequence. Capsid proteins are translated from an unspliced 2.3-kb mRNA driven by the P88 promoter. CpDNV thus appears as a new type of mosquito DNV, and based on the overall organization and expression modalities of its genome, it may represent the prototype of a new genus of DNV.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Pathologie Comparée, CC 101, Université Montpellier II, Place E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 5, France. Phone: (33) 467 144511. Fax: (33) 467 144299. E-mail: bergoinm{at}supagro.inra.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 22 April 2009.

{dagger} E.B.-A. and A.A.-A. contributed equally to this work.

Journal of Virology, July 2009, p. 6863-6873, Vol. 83, No. 13
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00524-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»