Identification and characterization of a type III Trichomonas vaginalis virus in the protozoan pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis.
A type III Trichomonas vaginalis virus, which may be involved in transcriptional regulation of the major surface protein gene P270 of the protozoan pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis, was purified and characterized in the present study. The complete 4844-base-pair complementary DNA sequence of the viral genome reveals overlapping cap and pol genes with a putative ribosomal frame-shifting signal within the overlap region. The type III virus is related more closely to the type II virus than to the type I virus in the sequence of its ribosomal frameshift signal and in its capsid protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these viruses could be grouped in the same clade as a genus distantly related to other genera in the family Totiviridae. Virus-induced P270 gene expression was only evident in Trichomonas vaginalis cells infected with either a type II or type III virus, but not with a type I virus. These findings suggest that transcription of the P270 gene is likely regulated by viral factors common to type II and type III viruses and thus provides important information for future investigation of virus-host interactions.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Irina N
IN
Bessarab
Rui
R
Nakajima
Hsing-Wei
HW
Liu
Jung-Hsiang
JH
Tai
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005260:Female; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D016679:Genome, Viral; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019196:Totiviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*
D036022:Capsid Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; C112129:p270 protein, Trichomonas vaginalis