Characterization of a prototype strain of hepatitis E virus.
A strain of hepatitis E virus (SAR-55) implicated in an epidemic of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis, now called hepatitis E, was characterized extensively. Six cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were infected with a strain of hepatitis E virus from Pakistan. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the pattern of virus shedding in feces, bile, and serum relative to hepatitis and induction of specific antibodies. Virtually the entire genome of SAR-55 (7195 nucleotides) was sequenced. Comparison of the sequence of SAR-55 with that of a Burmese strain revealed a high level of homology except for one region encoding 100 amino acids of a putative nonstructural polyprotein. Identification of this region as hypervariable was obtained by partial sequencing of a third isolate of hepatitis E virus from Kirgizia.
Tsarev
S A
SA
Hepatitis Viruses Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Emerson
S U
SU
Reyes
G R
GR
Tsareva
T S
TS
Legters
L J
LJ
Malik
I A
IA
Iqbal
M
M
Purcell
R H
RH
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005814:Genes, Viral; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000382:microbiology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins