A comparison of complete genome sequences of the attenuated RC-HL strain of rabies virus used for production of animal vaccine in Japan, and the parental Nishigahara strain.
In order to establish the molecular basis of the pathogenicity of the attenuated RC-HL strain of rabies virus used for the production of animal vaccine in Japan, the complete genome sequence of this strain was determined and compared with that of the parental Nishigahara strain which is virulent for adult mice. The viral genome of both strains was composed of 11,926 nucleotides. The nucleotide sequences of the two genomes showed a high homology of 98.9%. The homology of the G gene was lower than those of N, P, M and L genes at both nucleotide and deduced amino acid levels, and the percentage of radical amino acid substitutions on the G protein was the highest among the five proteins. These findings raise the possibility that the structure of the G protein is the most variable among the five proteins of the two strains. Furthermore, we found two clusters of amino acid substitutions on the G and L proteins. The relevance of these clusters to the difference in the pathogenicity between the two strains is discussed.
Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Agriculture, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.
N
N
Ito
M
M
Kakemizu
K A
KA
Ito
A
A
Yamamoto
Y
Y
Yoshida
M
M
Sugiyama
N
N
Minamoto
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D016679:Genome, Viral; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000235:genetics*; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D011819:Rabies Vaccines; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D014758:Viral Core Proteins