title: Complete genome analysis and virulence characteristics of the Louisiana West Nile virus strain LSU-AR01.
abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) is a member of the Flaviriridae family, which can cause significant morbidity and mortality in birds, horses, and humans. The WNV-LSU-AR01 strain was isolated from a dead blue jay in Louisiana in 2001. Phylogenetic analysis using 75 full WNV genomes revealed that the LSU-AR01 strain belongs to a distinct subclade among the North American strains. The LSU-AR01 strain differed from the NY-99 prototypic strain by 26 nucleotides causing six amino acid changes. An asparagine-to-lysine change was located immediately proximal to a known CD8(+)T cell epitope in NS4B, while a glutamine-to-lysine change was located within a predicted CD8(+)T cell epitope in NS5. The LSU-AR01 strain caused pronounced neuronal necrosis, perivascular cuffing and gliosis in comparison to the NY-99-infected mice. These results suggest that the previously identified Connecticut strains may contain highly neurovirulent strains such as the LSU-AR01 that have spread in North America.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU SVM), Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA.
authors.forename: Arun V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.forename: Marc J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Boudreaux
authors.forename: Nobuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wakamatsu
authors.forename: Alma F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Abolghasem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baghian
authors.forename: Vladimir N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Chouljenko
authors.forename: Konstantin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Kousoulas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000821:virology; D001717:Birds; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008145:Louisiana; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D010802:Phylogeny; D017354:Point Mutation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014774:Virulence; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral