title: Normal replication of vesicular stomatitis virus without C proteins.
abstract: The expression of two small basic proteins (C and C') encoded by a second open reading frame of the New Jersey serotype of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) P gene was reported previously (Spiropoulou and Nichol, J. Virol., 67, 3103-3110, 1993). Here we found that the Indiana serotype virus also expressed C and C' proteins from this reading frame. We eliminated C and C' expression by making a single base change that introduced a stop codon in the C and C' coding sequence, but left the P-protein sequence unchanged. This mutated P gene supported normal replication and packaging of VSV minigenomes encoding G and M proteins. The mutated P gene was also recombined into an infectious clone of VSV that was used to recover virus. The mutant virus no longer expressed the C and C' proteins but showed growth kinetics identical to wild-type virus. The amounts of viral mRNAs and proteins synthesized were indistinguishable in mutant and wild-type virus infected cells as were the yields and composition of mutant and wild-type virus particles. The kinetics of host protein-synthesis shut-off were also identical for both viruses. Although the C and C' proteins were dispensable for VSV growth in tissue culture, they are known to be conserved in all vesiculoviruses, and thus perhaps play a role in viral pathogenesis or transmission by insect vectors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kretzschmar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peluso
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Schnell
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Whitt
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D006224:Cricetinae; D004279:DNA, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014721:Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018116:Vesiculovirus; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins