Human monkeypox and smallpox viruses: genomic comparison. |
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| Authors: | S N Shchelkunov A V Totmenin I V Babkin P F Safronov O I Ryazankina N A Petrov V V Gutorov E A Uvarova M V Mikheev J R Sisler J J Esposito P B Jahrling B Moss L S Sandakhchiev |
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| Institution: | State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, Koltsovo, Russia. snshchel@vector.nsc.ru |
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| Abstract: | Monkeypox virus (MPV) causes a human disease which resembles smallpox but with a lower person-to-person transmission rate. To determine the genetic relationship between the orthopoxviruses causing these two diseases, we sequenced the 197-kb genome of MPV isolated from a patient during a large human monkeypox outbreak in Zaire in 1996. The nucleotide sequence within the central region of the MPV genome, which encodes essential enzymes and structural proteins, was 96.3% identical with that of variola (smallpox) virus (VAR). In contrast, there were considerable differences between MPV and VAR in the regions encoding virulence and host-range factors near the ends of the genome. Our data indicate that MPV is not the direct ancestor of VAR and is unlikely to naturally acquire all properties of VAR. |
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