title: Characterization of Sepik and Entebbe bat viruses closely related to yellow fever virus.
abstract: Yellow fever virus has a special place in medical history as the first animal virus isolated and as the prototype virus in the genus Flavivirus, which contains many serious human pathogens. Only recently, its closely related viruses within the group were identified phylogenetically. In this study, we obtained complete or near complete genome sequences of two viruses most closely related to yellow fever virus: Sepik virus of Papua New Guinea and Entebbe bat virus of Africa. Based on full-genomic characterization and genomic traits among related viruses, we identified Sepik virus to be most closely related to yellow fever virus and analyzed the pattern of repeat and conserved sequence motifs in the 3'-noncoding region among the members of yellow fever virus cluster. We also discuss the geographic dispersal as a part of ecological traits of this lineage of flaviviruses.
authors.affiliation: Arbovirus Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO 80522-2087, USA. gok1@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Goro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kuno
authors.forename: Gwong-Jen J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016679:Genome, Viral; D051379:Mice; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015005:Yellow fever virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D010446:Peptide Fragments