title: Identification and characterization of the short variable region of the Japanese encephalitis virus 3' NTR.
abstract: Since the 1980s, the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) variants with slightly short variable regions (VR) of the 3' non-translated region (NTR) have been found; however, the implications of these short VR remain unclear. We recently identified two novel types of short VR (5 and 9 nt shorter than that of major group of genotype I JEV strains) of genotype I JEV isolates. To elucidate the impact of these short VR on the replication and virulence of JEV, we generated five recombinant JEV viruses: M41-d5 and M41-d9 have deletions in the VR that correspond to those observed in some recent JEV isolates, M41-d5d9 has both the 5- and 9-nt deletions in the VR, M41-d27 has a large deletion that encompasses both the 5- and 9-nt deletion regions, and M41-a13 has a 13-nt sequence insertion of the genotype III JEV strain Beijing-1 into the parent genotype I JEV strain Mie/41/2002 genome. The recombinant viruses and the parent virus, except for the M41-d27 mutant, showed similar growth properties in mammalian and mosquito cell lines. Mouse challenge experiments indicated that no significant differences among the recombinant viruses M41-d5d9, M41-d27, M41-a13, and the parent virus. Our results suggest that the short VR in JEV 3' NTR do not affect its growth in vitro or its pathogenicity in mice.
authors: Department of Virology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors: Fumihiro
authors: F
authors: Kato
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Kotaki
authors: Yukie
authors: Y
authors: Yamaguchi
authors: Hajime
authors: H
authors: Shiba
authors: Kuniaki
authors: K
authors: Hosono
authors: Seiya
authors: S
authors: Harada
authors: Masayuki
authors: M
authors: Saijo
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Kurane
authors: Tomohiko
authors: T
authors: Takasaki
authors: Shigeru
authors: S
authors: Tajima
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D009033:Culicidae; D004664:Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D012367:RNA, Viral