title: Genetic characterization of a new insect flavivirus isolated from Culex pipiens mosquito in Japan.
abstract: We found a new flavivirus that is widespread in Culex pipiens and other Culex mosquitoes in Japan. The virus isolate, named Culex flavivirus (CxFV), multiplied only in mosquito cell lines producing a moderate cytopathic effect, but did not grow in mammalian cells. The CxFV genome is single-stranded RNA, 10,834 nt in length and containing a single open reading frame encoding a polyprotein of 3362 aa with 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of 91 and 657 nt, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that CxFV is closely related to the insect flaviviruses associated with Aedes mosquitoes, Cell fusing agent (CFA) and Kamiti River virus (KRV). The 3' UTR of CxFV contains four tandem repeats, which have sequence similarities to the two direct repeats in the CFA and KRV 3' UTRs. These results suggest that CxFV may be a new group of insect flaviviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Entomology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isawa
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuda
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takasaki
authors.forename: Mutsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sawabe
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology*; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins