The objective of this study was to construct the infectious clone of encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) BJC3 strain.The genomic cDNA of the virus was amplified by three overlapping segments using RT-PCR,and cloned into low-copy plasmid pWSK29 to construct the full-length cDNA clone pWSKBJC3/ w.The pWSKBJC3/w was in vitro transcribed and transfected into BHK-21 cells to rescue the virus.The results showed that the full-length cDNA clone was infectious and the virus could be rescued in BHK-21 cells.The rescued virus designated RvBJC3W was identified by RT-PCR and indirect immunofluorescence assay(IFA).The rescued virus had similar growth characteristics to its parental virus BJC3 and retained pathogenicity for mice.Our results indicate that the first infectious cDNA clone of EMCV in China has been successfully established and provides an essential tool for investigating the molecular basis of pathogenicity of EMCV.
ZHANG Guo-qing,ZHU Shu,GE Xin-na,GUO Xin,CHEN Yan-hong, ZHA Zhen-lin,YANG Han-chun~* (Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture,College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University,Beijing 100193,China)
Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) infection leads to many diseases including encephalitis,myocarditis and diabetes in its natural host,the mouse.In this study,we generated four cDNA clones with a point mutation at position 100 of VP1.The amino acids isoleucine,alanine,serine and proline were substituted with threonine in the four different clones of EMCV strain BJC3 by site-specific mutagenesis,and viable viruses were rescued.Although all mutants and wild-type viruses display different plaque morphologies,they replicate comparably in BHK-21 cells.The pathogenicity of the mutated viruses was systematically analyzed to investigate the importance of this amino acid in the viral pathogenicity and disease phenotype of EMCV infection in mice.The results showed that the isoleucine(T1100I) and proline-mutated viruses (T1100P) exhibited a reduced mortality,lower cerebral virus loads and alleviated brain damage while the viruses with serine (T1100S) and alanine (T1100A) substitutions displayed similar properties as the wild-type virus.These findings indicate that the amino acid at position 100 of VP1 is important for EMCV in vivo infection,and its mutation alters the pathogenicity of viral infection in mice.
ZHU Shu GE XinNa GONG XiaoWen GUO Xin CHEN YanHong YANG HanChun
