title: Specific nucleotide changes in the subgenomic promoter region influence infectivity of the sindbis virus.
abstract: Transcription of the subgenomic mRNA of Sindbis virus (SINV) is initiated at a subgenomic promoter (SP). Alignment of SINV sequences identified a 68-nucleotide conserved domain spanning -19 to +49 relative to the subgenomic mRNA start site. Nucleotide T or C is present at -18 or +49 in all known SINVs while a Sindbis-like virus XJ-160 has an A or T at a corresponding position. Our results indicate that deletion or substitution of the T at +49 decreased the activity of SP, while substituting T for A at -18 did not decrease the activity of SP or genetic stability of recombinant SINV.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: W-Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: G-D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D017354:Point Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D012845:Sindbis Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D019562:Viral Load; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral