title: Diversity among Tacaribe serocomplex viruses (family Arenaviridae) naturally associated with the Mexican woodrat (Neotoma mexicana).
abstract: The results of analyses of glycoprotein precursor and nucleocapsid protein gene sequences indicated that an arenavirus isolated from a Mexican woodrat (Neotoma mexicana) captured in Arizona is a strain of a novel species (proposed name Skinner Tank virus) and that arenaviruses isolated from Mexican woodrats captured in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah are strains of Whitewater Arroyo virus or species phylogenetically closely related to Whitewater Arroyo virus. Pairwise comparisons of glycoprotein precursor sequences and nucleocapsid protein sequences revealed a high level of divergence among the viruses isolated from the Mexican woodrats captured in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah and the Whitewater Arroyo virus prototype strain AV 9310135, which originally was isolated from a white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula) captured in New Mexico. Conceptually, the viruses from Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah and strain AV 9310135 could be grouped together in a species complex in the family Arenaviridae, genus Arenavirus.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1019, USA. nbcajirm@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Maria N B
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Cajimat
authors.forename: Mary Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Milazzo
authors.forename: Jeff N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Borchert
authors.forename: Ken D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Charles F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Fulhorst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006477:Arenaviruses, New World / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016205:Sigmodontinae / Q000821:virology*; D015206:Southwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors