Evolution of the nucleoprotein and matrix genes of wild-type strains of measles virus isolated from recent epidemics.
To characterize the genetic properties of currently circulating strains of wild-type measles viruses, we constructed and sequenced cDNA clones of the nucleoprotein (N) and matrix (M) genes of wild-type strains isolated between 1958 and 1989. The N and M genes of wild-type isolates from the prevaccine era (before 1964) were highly related to each other and to the N and M genes of a currently used measles vaccine strain, Moraten. The N and M genes of these viruses differed by no more than 0.5% at the nucleotide level. In contrast, the N and M genes of wild-type viruses isolated between 1977 and 1989 showed genetic drift, with the greatest amount of drift occurring in the viruses isolated from recent cases in the United States. Overall, the M genes were slightly more conserved at the nucleotide level (2.6% nucleotide, 3.3% amino acid) than the N genes (4.8% nucleotide, 3.4% amino acid). Alignment of the predicted protein sequences of the N genes revealed two regions of amino acid heterogeneity. The evolutionary patterns for the N and M genes suggested that the wild-type viruses isolated in the United States in 1989 were more related to wild-type viruses isolated in the United Kingdom between 1983 and 1988 than to viruses isolated in the United States in 1983.
Rota
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Respiratory and Enterovirus Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Bloom
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Vanchiere
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Bellini
W J
WJ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D008459:Measles virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins