Nineteen nucleotides in the variable region of 3' non-translated region are dispensable for the replication of dengue type 1 virus in vitro.
In many flaviruses, first 50-400 nucleotides of 3' non-translated region (3' NTR) exhibit lower conservation level than other regions and are called "variable region". Two dengue type 1 virus (DENV-1) strains, which have 17- and 29-nt deletion in the variable region, were recently isolated from Japanese dengue fever patients. The effect of a small deletion in the 3' NTR was analyzed using two DENV-1 viruses which were prepared from a newly developed infectious cDNA clone. These included a recombinant virus rDENV-1(02-20), without any deletion in 3' NTR, and rDENV-1m10, with 19-nt deletion in the variable region of rDENV-1(02-20). These two viruses were compared for growth kinetics and plaque morphology in Vero, Huh-7 and C6/36 cells. No apparent difference was detected between rDENV-1(02-20) and rDENV-1m10 in replication efficiency and plaque size in these cell lines. The results suggest that the complete variable region of DENV-1 is dispensable for virus replication and propagation in vitro.
Tajima
Shigeru
S
Laboratory of Vector-Borne Viruses, Department of Virology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
Nukui
Yoko
Y
Ito
Mikako
M
Takasaki
Tomohiko
T
Kurane
Ichiro
I
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014709:Vero Cells; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012367:RNA, Viral