title: The NSm proteins of Rift Valley fever virus are dispensable for maturation, replication and infection.
abstract: Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus belongs to the Bunyaviridae family of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses and causes mosquito-borne disease in sub-Saharan Africa. We report the development of a T7 RNA polymerase-driven plasmid-based genetic system for the virulent Egyptian isolate, ZH501. We have used this system to rescue a virus that has a 387 nucleotide deletion on the genomic M segment that eliminates the coding region for two non-structural proteins known as NSm. This virus, DeltaNSm rZH501, is indistinguishable from the parental ZH501 strain with respect to expression of structural proteins and growth in cultured mammalian cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 S. Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. gerrard@umich.edu
authors.forename: Sonja R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gerrard
authors.forename: Brian H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Cesar G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Albariño
authors.forename: Stuart T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Nichol
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D017353:Gene Deletion; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012296:Rift Valley fever virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019065:Virus Assembly / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D014764:Viral Proteins