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In vitro packaging of UV radiation-damaged DNA from bacteriophage T7.

When DNA from bacteriophage T7 is irradiated with UV light, the efficiency with which this DNA can be packaged in vitro to form viable phage particles is reduced. A comparison between irradiated DNA packaged in vitro and irradiated intact phage particles shows almost identical survival as a function of UV dose when Escherichia coli wild type or polA or uvrA mutants are used as the host. Although uvrA mutants perform less host cell reactivation, the polA strains are identical with wild type in their ability to support the growth of irradiated T7 phage or irradiated T7 DNA packaged in vitro into complete phage. An examination of in vitro repair performed by extracts of T7-infected E.coli suggests that T7 DNA polymerase may substitute for E. coli DNA polymerase I in the resynthesis step of excision repair. Also tested was the ability of a similar in vitro repair system that used extracts from uninfected cells to restore biological activity of irradiated DNA. When T7 DNA damaged by UV irradiation was treated with an endonuclease from Micrococcus luteus that is specific for pyrimidine dimers and then was incubated with an extract of uninfected E. coli capable of removing pyrimidine dimers and restoring the DNA of its original (whole genome size) molecular weight, this DNA showed a higher packaging efficiency than untreated DNA, thus demonstrating that the in vitro repair system partially restored the biological activity of UV-damaged DNA.

Cell-Free System↗

Hepatitis C viral proteins affect cell viability and membrane permeability.

To determine the effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins on cell growth, Huh-7 cells were transfected with a full-length HCV cDNA (pMO9.6-T7 Rz) clone and HCV proteins were expressed using a replication-defective adenovirus that encodes the gene for the T7 RNA polymerase. Expression of HCV proteins from this full-length clone resulted in reduction in viability of transfected cells as measured by trypan blue viability assay. For identification and separation of cells expressing hepatitis C virus proteins by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, GFP was cloned in the HCV full-length clone. Cells transfected with the HCV-GFP chimera clone produced high levels of accurately processed structural and nonstructural proteins similar to those of the HCV full-length clone, which could be detected by Western blot analysis. Cells expressing all HCV proteins lost membrane permeability and underwent apoptotic cell death, indicated by the appearance of a sub-G0 peak in cell cycle analysis, DNA fragmentation in a TUNEL assay, and microscopic detection of nuclear condensation. Using double-channel flow analysis we confirmed that high-level expression of HCV proteins affected membrane permeability and cell survival. These results suggest that expression of all structural and nonstructural proteins from HCV cDNA in hepatic cells induces apoptotic cell death, which might be an important event in chronic hepatitis infection in humans.

Apoptosis↗

Monoacetylcurcumin: a new inhibitor of eukaryotic DNA polymerase lambda and a new ligand for inhibitor-affinity chromatography.

We previously reported that a phenolic compound, curcumin (diferuloylmethane), was a selective inhibitor of DNA polymerase lambda (pol lambda) in vitro [Y. Mizushina, M. Hirota, C. Murakami, T. Ishidoh, S. Kamisuki, N. Shimazaki, M. Takemura, M. Perpelescu, M. Suzuki, H. Yoshida, F. Sugawara, O. Koiwai, K. Sakaguchi, Some anti-chronic inflammatory compounds are DNA polymerase lambda-specific inhibitors, Biochem. Pharmacol. 66 (2003) 1935-1944.]. We also found that monoacetylcurcumin ([1E,4Z,6E]-7-(4''-acetoxy-3''-methoxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-1-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)hepta-1,4,6-trien-3-on), a chemically synthesized derivative of curcumin, was a stronger pol lambda inhibitor than curcumin, achieving 50% inhibition at a concentration of 3.9microM. Monoacetylcurcumin did not influence the activities of replicative pols such as alpha, delta, and epsilon, and showed no effect even on the activity of pol beta, the three-dimensional structure of which is thought to be highly similar to that of pol lambda. The compound-induced inhibition of pol lambda activity was non-competitive with respect to both the DNA template-primer and the dNTP substrate. Monoacetylcurcumin did not inhibit the activity of the C-terminal catalytic domain of pol lambda including the pol beta-like core, in which the BRCT motif was deleted. The compound did not influence the activities of prokaryotic pols or other mammalian DNA metabolizing enzymes such as calf primase of pol alpha, calf terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, human telomerase, human immunodeficiency virus type-1 reverse transcriptase, T7 RNA polymerase, T4 polynucleotide kinase, and bovine deoxyribonuclease I. Therefore, we concluded that monoacetylcurcumin is a selective inhibitor of pol lambda and could be used as a chromatographic ligand to purify pol lambda. We then made a monoacetylcurcumin-conjugated column with epoxy-activated Sepharose 6B. In the column, pol lambda of full length was selectively adsorbed and eluted.

Animals↗

Regulated expression of foreign genes in vaccinia virus under the control of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase and the Escherichia coli lac repressor.

The gene encoding bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase (T7gene1) was placed under the control of regulatory elements from the Escherichia coli lac operon to construct an inducible vaccinia virus expression system consisting entirely of prokaryotic transcriptional machinery. Regulated expression of T7 RNA polymerase was necessary to construct a stable recombinant vaccinia virus harboring a T7 promoter; otherwise, uncontrolled expression led to interference with endogenous virus replication. To this end, the gene encoding the repressor protein of the lac operon was fused to a viral early/late promoter so that it was expressed constitutively, and the lac operator was interposed between a viral major late promoter and T7gene1. Greater than 99% repression of T7 RNA polymerase, which was relieved approximately 80-fold in the presence of the inducer isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), was obtained. An expression cassette containing a T7 promoter-controlled beta-galactosidase reporter gene was recombined into a different region of the viral genome containing T7gene1. A stable, double recombinant virus was isolated and grown to a high titer. In the absence of inducer, beta-galactosidase expression was substantially repressed. Addition of increasing amounts of IPTG induced expression of beta-galactosidase to the point of suppression of viral replication. This hybrid vaccinia virus system (Vac/Op/T7) has potential applications for the efficient bioproduction of a wide variety of gene products.

Base Sequence↗

Increased DNA microarray hybridization specificity using sscDNA targets.

BACKGROUND: The most widely used amplification method for microarray analysis of gene expression uses T7 RNA polymerase-driven in vitro transcription (IVT) to produce complementary RNA (cRNA) that can be hybridized to arrays. However, multiple rounds of amplification are required when assaying very small amounts of starting RNA. Moreover, certain cRNA-DNA mismatches are more stable than the analogous cDNA-DNA mismatches and this might increase non-specific hybridization. We sought to determine whether a recently developed linear isothermal amplification method (ribo-SPIA) that produces single stranded cDNA would offer advantages over traditional IVT-based methods for microarray-based analyses of transcript expression. RESULTS: A single round of ribo-SPIA amplification produced sufficient sscDNA for hybridizations when as little as 5 ng of starting total RNA was used. Comparisons of probe set signal intensities obtained from replicate amplifications showed consistently high correlations (r = 0.99). We compared gene expression in two different human RNA samples using ribo-SPIA. Compared with one round IVT, ribo-SPIA had a larger dynamic range and correlated better with quantitative PCR results even though we used 1000-fold less starting RNA. The improved dynamic range was associated with decreases in hybridization to mismatch control probes. CONCLUSION: The use of amplified sscDNA may offer substantial advantages over IVT-based amplification methods, especially when very limited amounts of starting RNA are available. The use of sscDNA targets instead of cRNA targets appears to improve hybridization specificity.

Animals↗

TWINKLE Has 5' -> 3' DNA helicase activity and is specifically stimulated by mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein.

Mutations in TWINKLE cause autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia, a human disorder associated with multiple deletions in the mitochondrial DNA. TWINKLE displays primary sequence similarity to the phage T7 gene 4 primase-helicase, but no specific enzyme activity has been assigned to the protein. We have purified recombinant TWINKLE to near homogeneity and demonstrate here that TWINKLE is a DNA helicase with 5' to 3' directionality and distinct substrate requirements. The protein needs a stretch of 10 nucleotides of single-stranded DNA on the 5'-side of the duplex to unwind duplex DNA. In addition, helicase activity is not observed unless a short single-stranded 3'-tail is present. The helicase activity has an absolute requirement for hydrolysis of a nucleoside 5'-triphosphate, with UTP being the optimal substrate. DNA unwinding by TWINKLE is specifically stimulated by the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein. Our enzymatic characterization strongly supports the notion that TWINKLE is the helicase at the mitochondrial DNA replication fork and provides evidence for a close relationship of the DNA replication machinery in bacteriophages and mammalian mitochondria.

Animals↗

Gene order constrains adaptation in bacteriophage T7.

The order of genes in the genome is commonly thought to have functional significance for gene regulation and fitness but has not heretofore been tested experimentally. We adapted a bacteriophage T7 variant harboring an ectopically positioned RNA polymerase gene to determine whether it could regain the fitness of the wild type. Two replicate lines maintained the starting gene order and showed only modest recovery of fitness, despite the accumulation of over a dozen mutations. In both lines, a mutation in the early terminator signal is responsible for the majority of the fitness recovery. In a third line, the phage evolved a new gene order, restoring the wild-type position of the RNA polymerase gene but also displacing several other genes to ectopic locations. Due to the recombination, the fitness of this replicate was the highest obtained but it falls short of the wild type adapted to the same growth conditions. The large benefits afforded by the terminator mutation and the recombination are explicable in terms of T7 biology, whereas several mutations with lesser benefits are not easily accounted for. These results support the premise that gene order is important to fitness and that wild-type fitness is not rapidly re-evolved in reorganized genomes.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Effect of site-specifically located mitomycin C-DNA monoadducts on in vitro DNA synthesis by DNA polymerases.

A series of site-specifically modified oligodeoxynucleotides were synthesized that contained either of the two known mitomycin C-DNA monoadducts. In vitro DNA synthesis was carried out on some of these templates using a modified bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase (Sequenase), AMV reverse transcriptase, and two different varieties of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment)--one that carries the normal 3'-->5' exonuclease activity and a mutant protein that lacks this enzymatic function. Regardless of the type of DNA polymerase being used, DNA synthesis was terminated nearly quantitatively at the nucleotide 3' to each of these two monoadduct sites, although primer extension to full length of the template was noted with the unmodified control template. Substitution of Mn2+ for Mg2+ at a high concentration of the deoxynucleotide triphosphates resulted in incorporation of nucleotides opposite the adduct in the incubations with Sequenase or the 3'-->5' exonuclease-free Klenow fragment; however, primer extension beyond the adduct site did not take place. These studies demonstrated that the mitomycin monoadducts are strong blocks of replication and are likely to be toxic lesions in vivo. Since previous molecular modeling studies and molecular mechanical calculations indicated that the mitomycin adduction does not induce severe distortions at the site of adduction, a lack of base-pairing ability of the modified base in the extended product is unlikely to be the reason for the inhibitory effect. Instead, energy-minimized structural models indicated that additional hydrogen-bonding interactions have been introduced by the mitomycin moiety, and perhaps this increased thermodynamic stabilization of a distorted structure of the replication fork, in turn, may block the replication bypass. Experimental evidence of increased thermodynamic stability was provided by thermal melting of a template/primer complex that presumably a polymerase encounters in a typical replication fork. Consistently higher Tm of the adducted "replication fork" was noted when compared to its unmodified counterpart.

Base Sequence↗

Replication of murine coronavirus defective interfering RNA from negative-strand transcripts.

The positive-strand defective interfering (DI) RNA of the murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), when introduced into MHV-infected cells, results in DI RNA replication and accumulation. We studied whether the introduction of negative-strand transcripts of MHV DI RNA would also result in replication. At a location downstream of the T7 promoter and upstream of the human hepatitis delta virus ribozyme domain, we inserted a complete cDNA clone of MHV DI RNA in reverse orientation; in vitro-synthesized RNA from this plasmid yielded a negative-strand RNA copy of the MHV DI RNA. When the negative-strand transcripts of the DI RNA were expressed in MHV-infected cells by a vaccinia virus T7 expression system, positive-strand DI RNAs accumulated in the plasmid-transfected cells. DI RNA replication depended on the expression of T7 polymerase and on the presence of the T7 promoter. Transfection of in vitro-synthesized negative-strand transcripts into MHV-infected cells and serial passage of virus samples from RNA-transfected cells also resulted in accumulation of the DI RNA. Positive-strand DI RNA transcripts were undetectable in sample preparations of the in vitro-synthesized negative-strand DI RNA transcripts, and DI RNA did not accumulate after cotransfection of a small amount of positive-strand DI RNA and truncated-replication-disabled negative-strand transcripts; clearly, the DI RNA replicated from the transfected negative-strand transcripts and not from minute amounts of positive-strand DI RNAs that might be envisioned as artifacts of T7 transcription. Sequence analysis of positive-strand DI RNAs in the cells transfected with negative-strand transcripts showed that DI RNAs maintained the DI-specific unique sequences introduced within the leader sequence. These data indicated that positive-strand DI RNA synthesis occurred from introduced negative-strand transcripts in the MHV-infected cells; this demonstration, using MHV, of DI RNA replication from transfected negative-strand DI RNA transcripts is the first such demonstration among all positive-stranded RNA viruses.

Animals↗

Concatemerization and packaging of bacteriophage T7 DNA in vitro: determination of the concatemers' length and appearance kinetics by use of rotating gel electrophoresis.

During its morphogenesis both in intact infected cells (in vivo) and in lysates of infected cells (in vitro), bacteriophage T7 forms end-to-end concatemers of its mature DNA, a linear, nonpermuted, terminally repetitious DNA. During morphogenesis, in vivo T7 concatemers are packaged in preformed capsids and cut to mature size. In the present study the lengths and appearance kinetics of concatemers formed in vitro from mature T7 DNA have been determined. The following procedures are used here for the first time: (a) 20-35% efficient in vitro concatemerization and packaging of T7 DNA; the mixture used for packaging contained two lysates that together had all T7 gene products, and (b) fractionation of concatemers by rotating gel electrophorsis (RGE), which improves the resolution by length of concatemer-length DNA. Concatemerization at 30 degrees was so fast that some other process must be rate limiting for packaging. The concatemers formed were linear and joined left-end to right-end by complementary base pairing, not by blunt-end ligation. Concatemers formed at 30 degrees were reconverted to mature DNA by packaging in vitro. Reducing the temperature to 0 degrees both slowed concatemerization to the time scale (minutes) needed for control of the extent of concatemerization and reduced packaging to insignificant levels, thereby also uncoupling packaging from concatemerization. At both 30 degrees and 0 degrees bands of discrete-length concatemers were observed by RGE. The lengths were n times the length of mature T7 DNA; n was found to be any integer from 2 to 15. The bands were stronger at 0 degrees than they were at 30 degrees in comparison to a background of heterogeneous DNA. No evidence for the favoring of any value of n was found. In addition, it was found by two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis that a comparatively small amount of circular DNA was produced in vitro.

Cold Temperature↗

Rapid inactivation of bacteriophage T7 by ascorbic acid is repairable.

Treatment of bacteriophage T7 with ascorbic acid resulted in the rapid accumulation of single-strand breaks in the DNA with double-strand breaks appearing only after incubation times of 20 min or longer. The single-strand breaks were responsible for a rapid inactivation of the phage as assayed by immediate plating of the phage-bacteria mixture on nutrient agar. Incubation of the phage-bacteria mixture in liquid medium prior to plating allowed a host cell reactivation process to repair the nicks and reactivate the phage. Non-reversible inactivation of the phage was a slower process which could be correlated with the appearance of double-strand breaks in the phage DNA. Host cell reactivation of the phage was also manifested in the phenomena of delayed lysis and delayed appearance of the concatemeric DNA replication intermediate.

Ascorbic Acid↗

T7-induced DNA polymerase. Requirement for thioredoxin sulfhydryl groups.

Bacteriophage T7-induced DNA polymerase is composed of a 1:1 complex of phage-induced gene 5 protein and Escherichia coli thioredoxin. Preparation of active subunits in the absence of sulfhydryl reagents indicates the reduced form of thioredoxin is sufficient for formation of the active holoenzyme. The oxidized form of thioredoxin, thioredoxin modified at one active site sulfhydryl by iodoacetate or methyl iodide, or thioredoxin modified at both active site sulfhydryls by N-ethylmaleimide, are all inactive, being defective in complex formation with gene 5 protein. Thioredoxin sulfhydryl groups present in native T7 DNA polymerase do not appear to be involved in an intersubunit disulfide bond; one and probably both sulfhydryls are available in the native holoenzyme for modification by N-ethylmaleimide. Furthermore, DNA substrates alter the reactivity of thioredoxin cysteines within the holoenzyme with respect to this reagent. Substrates for the single strand exonuclease enhance the reactivity of thioredoxin sulfhydryl groups while those for the polymerase or double strand exonuclease functions afford protection. It, therefore, seems likely that thioredoxin sulfhydryl groups are present in the reduced state within the native polymerase.

Bacterial Proteins↗

SAMase gene of bacteriophage T3 is responsible for overcoming host restriction.

Deletion and point mutants of T3 have been isolated and used to show that the early region of T3 DNA is organized in the same way as that of T7 DNA. Homologous early RNAs and proteins of the two phages have been identified by electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Both phages have five early mRNA's, numbered 0.3, 0.7, 1,1.1 and 1.3 from left to right, although no T3 protein that corresponds to the 1.1 protein of T7 has yet been identified. In general, corresponding early RNAs and proteins of the two phages migrate differently on gels, indicating that they differ in molecular weight and/or conformation. In both T7 and T3, gene 0.3 is responsible for overcoming the DNA restriction system of the host, gene 0.7 specifies a protein kinase, gene 1 specifies a phage-specific RNA polymerase, and gene 1.3 specifies a polynucleotide ligase. The 0.3 protein of T3 is responsible for the S-adenosylmethionine cleaving activity (SAMase) induced after T3 (but not T7) infection. However, cleaving of S-adenosylmethionine does not appear to be the primary mechanism by which T3 overcomes host restriction, since at least one mutant of T3 has lost the SAMase activity without losing the ability to overcome host restriction.

Coliphages↗

Rapid and efficient recovery of Sendai virus from cDNA: factors influencing recombinant virus rescue.

In a comparative study the factors influencing the recovery of recombinant Sendai viruses (SeV) from plasmid based cDNA were analysed systematically in order to establish an efficient and robust method for virus rescue. The amounts and ratios of transfected helper plasmids encoding the viral N, P and L proteins proved to be crucial for virus rescue, and they were optimised step-by-step for enhanced virus release. When the C open reading frame from the P gene was expressed at low level, virus rescue was generally possible but virus release could be improved when C gene expression was abolished completely. SeV particle formation could be increased greatly when the transcription initiation site for T7 polymerase in the cDNA was modified or when the genomic ribozyme instead of the antigenomic ribozyme of hepatitis delta virus was used for processing the 3'end of the viral RNA transcript. Heterologous helper viruses vTF7-3 and MVA-T7, which are necessary for T7 polymerase production in transfected cells, were compared for their use in SeV recovery and subsequent elimination of the helper virus from recombinant SeV. Interference with SeV replication was less severe with MVA-T7, and MVA-T7 was eliminated efficiently without the need for any inhibitors by serial passages in Vero cells. Optimal combination of all parameters led to a highly efficient generation of recombinant SeV from cDNA. Titres of the released virus particles are high enough to enable analysis of the recombinant SeV directly on test cells or propagation in cell cultures without the need for amplification in embryonated chicken eggs. The system is very robust and allows rapid generation of defined SeV mutants that require specialised host cells for propagation.

Animals↗

Investigation of norovirus replication in a human cell line.

Noroviruses (NoVs) belong to the genus Norovirus and are members of the family Caliciviridae. NoVs are the dominant cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis, but progress in understanding the molecular characteristics of NoV and its replication strategies have been hampered by the lack of a cell culture system or a practical animal model, except for murine NoVs. To elucidate the transcription and replication of the NoV genome, a complete genome of a human NoV genogroup II strain was cloned downstream of a T7 RNA polymerase promoter and expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T/17 cells using a T7 vaccinia virus expression system. Bands for a 7.6-kb negative-strand RNA, a 7.6-kb positive-strand genomic RNA, and a 2.6-kb positive-strand subgenomic-like RNA were found in the infected cells. However, recombinant capsid protein (rVP1) and rVP2 were not detected by Western blotting. When a construct containing VP1 and VP2 genes was co-transfected with a full-length construct, the expression of virus-like particles (VLPs) with a buoyant density of 1.271 g/cm3 was observed. We also observed round particles, 20 to 80 nm in diameter, with a buoyant density of 1.318 g/cm3. Our results indicated that NoV RNA was incorporated into the heavier particles. However, further studies are needed to investigate the antigenicity of these particles and to determine if they represent undeveloped VLPs.

Blotting, Northern↗

Rescue of the prototypic Arenavirus LCMV entirely from plasmid.

We document a helper-independent reverse genetics system for rescuing infectious arenaviruses from cloned cDNAs. We constructed plasmids containing full-length cDNAs of the antigenomic (ag) L and S segments of the Armstrong (ARM) strain of the prototypic Arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) flanked at their 5'- and 3'-termini by the T7 RNA polymerase (T7RP) promoter and ribozyme sequences, respectively. These plasmids directed intracellular synthesis of viral L and S ag RNA species in cells expressing plasmid-supplied T7RP. Co-expression of plasmid-supplied LCMV trans-acting factors, nucleoprotein (NP) and polymerase (L), resulted in replication and expression of L and S ag and genome RNA species, and generation of LCMV infectious progeny termed rT7/LCMV. The recombinant rT7/LCMV was unequivocally identified based on a genetic tag introduced in the recombinant S segment. In addition, rT7/LCMV exhibited growth and biological properties predicted for an ARM-like LCMV. To our knowledge, this is the first documented Arenavirus rescue, as well as of an ambisense negative strand (NS) RNA virus, entirely from cloned cDNAs. Our results extend the use of reverse genetic approaches for DNA-mediated virus rescue to all known virus families with NS RNA genome.

Animals↗

Integration-proficient plasmids for Pseudomonas aeruginosa: site-specific integration and use for engineering of reporter and expression strains.

An improved method for integration of exogenous DNA fragments at a defined site within the genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was developed. The method relies on two integration-proficient vectors, mini-CTX1 and mini-CTX2. These two vectors contain (1) a tetracycline (tet) selectable marker, (2) an oriT for conjugation-mediated plasmid transfer, (3) the pMB1-derived origin of replication, (4) a modified φCTX integrase (int) gene, (5) a versatile multiple cloning site (MCS) flanked by T4 transcriptional termination sequences (Omega elements), and (6) the φCTX attachment site. The MCS and Omega elements are flanked by yeast Flp recombinase target sites that allow in vivo excision of unwanted plasmid backbone sequences, including tet and int, from the genome of integrants by Flp recombinase. In the mini-CTX2 vector int transcription is driven from the strong trc promoter, which is regulated by the Lac repressor that is encoded by lacI(q) also contained on the plasmid. Upon conjugal transfer, mini-CTX1 and mini-CTX2 integrated at frequencies of 10(-8) and 10(-7), respectively. The usefulness of the integration vectors for gene fusion analyses was demonstrated by chromosomal insertion of autoinducer (AI)-regulated lasB-lacZ and rhlA-lacZ fusions into wild-type and AI synthase mutants. In wild-type, the fusions responded in a cell density-dependent manner and expression of both fusions was either greatly reduced or abolished in AI synthase mutants. Finally, an expression cassette containing the T7 polymerase gene under Lac repressor control was constructed, integrated into the P. aeruginosa chromosome, and used to express the hexahistidine-tagged P. aeruginosa AI synthase RhlI.

Artificial Gene Fusion↗

Rescue of synthetic salmonid rhabdovirus minigenomes.

Synthetic T7-driven cDNA minigenomes containing the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene as a reporter were derived from the genome of two salmonid novirhabdoviruses, infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV). We showed that an exogenous IHNV RNA minigenome transfected into fish cells could be rescued following IHNV infection as it was replicated, encapsidated and transcribed. When cells were infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing T7 RNA polymerase (vTF7-3), transfected with the plasmid carrying the IHNV minigenome (genomic- and antigenomic-sense) and superinfected with IHNV, rescue of the minigenome was more efficient. Heterologous VHSV/IHNV rescue experiments failed. Finally, when the IHNV N, P and L proteins were expressed from cDNAs in cells, the minigenome was also successfully rescued, indicating that the nucleocapsid proteins were biologically functional. These data represent the first example of rescue experiments for non-mammalian rhabdoviruses replicating at a low temperature.

Animals↗