title: The relationships between West Nile and Kunjin viruses.
abstract: Until recently, West Nile (WN) and Kunjin (KUN) viruses were classified as distinct types in the Flavivirus genus. However, genetic and antigenic studies on isolates of these two viruses indicate that the relationship between them is more complex. To better define this relationship, we performed sequence analyses on 32 isolates of KUN virus and 28 isolates of WN virus from different geographic areas, including a WN isolate from the recent outbreak in New York. Sequence comparisons showed that the KUN virus isolates from Australia were tightly grouped but that the WN virus isolates exhibited substantial divergence and could be differentiated into four distinct groups. KUN virus isolates from Australia were antigenically homologous and distinct from the WN isolates and a Malaysian KUN virus. Our results suggest that KUN and WN viruses comprise a group of closely related viruses that can be differentiated into subgroups on the basis of genetic and antigenic analyses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Scherret
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poidinger
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Broom
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deubel
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lipkin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Briese
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000166:cytology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D001315:Australia; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014709:Vero Cells; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral