NSm and 78-kilodalton proteins of Rift Valley fever virus are nonessential for viral replication in cell culture.
Rift Valley fever viruses carrying mutations of the M gene preglycoprotein region, one lacking NSm protein expression, one lacking 78-kDa protein expression, and one lacking expression of both proteins, were compared in cell culture. All of the mutants and their parent virus produced plaques with similar sizes and morphologies in Vero E6 cells and had similar growth kinetics in Vero, C6/36, and MRC5 cells, demonstrating that the NSm and 78-kDa proteins were not needed for the virus to replicate efficiently in cell culture. A competition-propagation assay revealed that the parental virus was slightly more fit than the mutant virus lacking expression of both proteins.
Won
Sungyong
S
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1019, USA.
Ikegami
Tetsuro
T
Peters
C J
CJ
Makino
Shinji
S
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D012296:Rift Valley fever virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014709:Vero Cells; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*
D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins