title: Molecular relationships between 21 human rhinovirus serotypes.
abstract: We have analysed, by PCR using consensus primers followed by sequencing, 12 human rhinoviruses (HRVs) in a genomic region including that corresponding to the immunogenic site NIm-II. Together with published information, 21 sequences are available for comparison. In the region analysed, which encodes 112 amino acids, the majority (18) of the serotypes exhibited at least 70% amino acid identity to one another and some serotypes are very closely related. These include HRV-36, -58 and -89, known to exhibit antigenic cross reactivity, which were shown to differ at only three amino acid positions. Three serotypes, HRV-3, -14 and -72, share at least 84% identity with one another but are less than 66% identical to the majority group. Interestingly, membership of these two molecular clusters correlates with the groupings determined by sensitivity to antivirus drugs, suggesting that they reflect a fundamental division of HRVs. In contrast, there is no correlation with receptor grouping, since the majority group contains members belonging to both HRV receptor groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horsnell
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gama
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stanway
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D003429:Cross Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; C442544:VP2 protein, Rhinovirus