title: Sequence analysis of the Puumala hantavirus Sotkamo strain L segment.
abstract: Sequence of the Puumala virus (PUU) Sotkamo strain L segment is provided, completing the total genome of this prototype PUU virus strain. The L segment is 6530 nucleotides long and it can encode 2156 amino-acids-long L protein, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The strain Sotkamo, originally isolated in Finland, showed for the L genome segment nucleotide (84.6%) and amino acid (97.3%) homology to a previously sequenced PUU Russian isolate, strain Bashkiria/CG1820 (B1820) and the L genome segment appeared to be at least as conserved as the S segment. Phylogenetic analysis based on the S, M and L segment sequences proposes that the three viral genes have a similar evolutionary history with no evidence for genome segment reassortment. Precise sequencing of the L segment termini demonstrated that the Puumala strains differ from the conserved sequences of the other hantaviruses at two positions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland. heli.piiparinen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Piiparinen
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vapalahti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plyusnin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaheri
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lankinen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D014764:Viral Proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases