病毒装配的分子生物学

病毒的装配是病毒复制和增殖过程中的一个重要步骤,它不是一个简单的静态的结构生物学问题,而是一个综合的动态的过程。它至少包括了下列几个问题：１．病毒的衣壳蛋白亚基是如何互相识别和装配成病毒衣壳的,是什么机制来控制这一过程的？２．病毒的基因组（ＤＮＡ或Ｒ...     

反转录病毒载体系统

反转录病毒载体系统曹虎（江苏省东海县教育局２２２３００）反转录病毒是一种ＲＮＡ病毒,由糖蛋白外壳、两条ＲＮＡ链和含有反转录酶的核心蛋白组成。当包着ＲＮＡ链的核心蛋白进入宿主细胞后。反转录酶启动,以病毒ＲＮＡ链为模板,反转录出单链ＤＮＡ,继而生成双链Ｄ...     

兔病毒性出血症(暂定名)的研究 Ⅱ.病毒的分离提纯、电镜观察及核酸性质

应用氯仿处理,聚乙二醇沉淀,差速及蔗糖梯度离心,可以获得部份提纯的兔病毒性出血症病毒制剂,制剂呈典型的病毒核蛋白紫外吸收曲线,最高吸收值在260nm,A260/280=1.3,电镜下病毒呈廿面体,大小约36nm,无外膜,用该制剂回接健康兔,能引起典型发病及死亡,用核糖核酸及脱氧核糖核酸酶处理,证明病毒核酸为DNA,病毒DNA的温度熔解曲线测定证明,DNA为双链,初步测定DNA的分子量约为13-15×10~(?)道尔顿。     

免出血症病毒的形态与结构的研究

免出血症病毒无锡株A_2R—3的完整病毒颗粒呈球形,廿面体等轴对称、无囊膜、其直径约为33—37nm。空心病毒粒子亦可看到,其核心直径为21—25nm。病毒衣壳包裹在颗粒的最外层,由紧密连结的子粒所组成,子粒排列规则,呈管状结构。其长度约为5—6nm,中心孔径为2—3nm。廿面体对称的等边三角形的面由6个子粒所构成,即每条边上排列3个子粒。据此推算出病毒衣壳的子粒总数为42,分负数为4,三角形面数为80,结构单位数为240。     

最新动物病毒分类简介

多次预告又几经推延的<病毒分类-国际病毒分类委员会(ICTV)第8次报告>(以下简称第8次报告),终于在2005年9月面世.虽然之前在网上已陆续发布了一些内容,但翻阅此书,仍有一睹为快之感,某些内容与事先网上发布的不尽相同,科属的分类有所增添或改动.     

食用真菌病毒的研究概况

食用真菌在我国栽培历史悠久,在世界许多国家也有广泛的栽培。据1984年不完全统计,世界食用菌产量约1336000吨,我国的产量可能仅次于美国而与法国的相当。1988年,我国食用菌的产量和出口量已跃居世界第一位。随着大规模生产的发展,病害问题受到人们的关注,其中病毒病因为不易辩认或症状时隐时现     

最新动物病毒分类简介

多次预告又几经推延的《病毒分类-国际病毒 分类委员会(ICTV)第8次报告》(以下简称第8次 报告),终于在2005年9月面世。虽然之前在网上 已陆续发布了一些内容,但翻阅此书,仍有一睹为快 之感,某些内容与事先网上发布的不尽相同,科属的 分类有所增添或改动。与2000年出版的第7次分 类报告相比,也有较大变化。该书的首席主编换成 了植物病毒学家Fauquct,出版社成了Elsevler Ac- ademic Press。而第7次报告首席主编为动物病毒 学家Van Regenmortel,出版社为Academic Press。 1995年出版的第6次报告仅586页,第7次报告 1162页。第8次更厚,达1259页,而且配有彩色图 文。不仅用丰富的色彩显示病毒的立体结构,如经 深冻电镜(cryoelectron microscope)电子成象 的 蓝舌病毒(BTV)构象彩照,还对各科属内的正式 成员、暂定成员等用不同颜色的文字印刷,比黑白两 色的第7次报告自然更加悦目和清晰。     

昆津病毒复制子——一种新型病毒载体

病毒复制子 (Replicon) 是指来源于病毒基因组的能够自主复制的RNA分子,保留了病毒非结构蛋白基因,而结构蛋白基因缺失或由外源基因替代。昆津病毒 (Kunjun virus) 为黄病毒科黄病毒属成员,其复制子具有表达效率高、细胞毒性低、遗传稳定等特点,在病毒基因组复制调控机制、外源蛋白表达、新型疫苗和基因治疗等领域得到了广泛应用。以下就昆津病毒复制子系统的构建、特性及应用方面的研究进展作一综述。     

真核藻类的病毒和病毒类粒子（VLPs）

真核藻类的病毒和病毒类粒子（ＶＬＰｓ）赵以军石正丽（中国科学院水生生物研究所,武汉４３００７２）（中国科学院武汉病毒研究所,武汉４３００７１）ＶｉｒｕｓｅｓａｎｄＶｉｒｕｓ－ｌｉｋｅＰｅａｒｔｉｃｌｅｓｏｆＥｕｋａｒｙｏｔｉｃＡｌｇａｅＺｈａｏＹｉｊ...     

A baculovirus-expressed dicistrovirus that is infectious to aphids

Detailed investigation of virus replication is facilitated by the construction of a full-length infectious clone of the viral genome. To date, this has not been achieved for members of the family Dicistroviridae. Here we demonstrate the construction of a baculovirus that expresses a dicistrovirus that is infectious in its natural host. We inserted a full-length cDNA clone of the genomic RNA of the dicistrovirus Rhopalosiphum padi virus (RhPV) into a baculovirus expression vector. Virus particles containing RhPV RNA accumulated in the nuclei of baculovirus-infected Sf21 cells expressing the recombinant RhPV clone. These virus particles were infectious in R. padi, a ubiquitous aphid vector of major cereal viruses. The recombinant virus was transmitted efficiently between aphids, despite the presence of 119 and 210 vector-derived bases that were stably maintained at the 5' and 3' ends, respectively, of the RhPV genome. The maintenance of such a nonviral sequence was surprising considering that most RNA viruses tolerate few nonviral bases beyond their natural termini. The use of a baculovirus to express a small RNA virus opens avenues for investigating replication of dicistroviruses and may allow large-scale production of these viruses for use as biopesticides.     

Structural variant of the intergenic internal ribosome entry site elements in dicistroviruses and computational search for their counterparts

The intergenic region (IGR) located upstream of the capsid protein gene in dicistroviruses contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). Translation initiation mediated by the IRES does not require initiator methionine tRNA. Comparison of the IGRs among dicistroviruses suggested that Taura syndrome virus (TSV) and acute bee paralysis virus have an extra side stem loop in the predicted IRES. We examined whether the side stem is responsible for translation activity mediated by the IGR using constructs with compensatory mutations. In vitro translation analysis showed that TSV has an IGR-IRES that is structurally distinct from those previously described. Because IGR-IRES elements determine the translation initiation site by virtue of their own tertiary structure formation, the discovery of this initiation mechanism suggests the possibility that eukaryotic mRNAs might have more extensive coding regions than previously predicted. To test this hypothesis, we searched full-length cDNA databases and whole genome sequences of eukaryotes using the pattern matching program, Scan For Matches, with parameters that can extract sequences containing secondary structure elements resembling those of IGR-IRES. Our search yielded several sequences, but their predicted secondary structures were suggested to be unstable in comparison to those of dicistroviruses. These results suggest that RNAs structurally similar to dicistroviruses are not common. If some eukaryotic mRNAs are translated independently of an initiator methionine tRNA, their structures are likely to be significantly distinct from those of dicistroviruses.     

Factor-independent assembly of elongation-competent ribosomes by an internal ribosome entry site located in an RNA virus that infects penaeid shrimp

The Taura syndrome virus (TSV), a member of the Dicistroviridae family of viruses, is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus which contains two nonoverlapping reading frames separated by a 230-nucleotide intergenic region. This intergenic region contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) which directs the synthesis of the TSV capsid proteins. Unlike other dicistroviruses, the TSV IRES contains an AUG codon that is in frame with the capsid region, suggesting that the IRES initiates translation at this AUG codon by using initiator tRNAmet. We show here that the TSV IRES does not use this or any other AUG codon to initiate translation. Like the IRES in cricket paralysis virus (CrPV), the TSV IRES can assemble 80S ribosomes in the absence of initiation factors and can direct protein synthesis in a reconstituted system that contains only purified ribosomal subunits, eukaryotic elongation factors 1A and 2, and aminoacylated tRNAs. The functional conservation of the CrPV-like IRES elements in viruses that can infect different invertebrate hosts suggests that initiation at non-AUG codons by an initiation factor-independent mechanism may be more prevalent.     

Multiple coding sequences for the genome-linked virus protein (VPg) in dicistroviruses

N-terminal Edman sequencing of the genome-linked viral protein (VPg) of Plautia stali intestine virus (PSIV, Dicistroviridae) detected heterologus residues. The VPg sequence determined was found to be triplicated in the nonstructural protein precursor. Multiple VPg-like sequences were also found in 10 of the 12 dicistroviruses with a maximum of six copies in Solenopsis invicta virus-1. We postulate that redundant VPg coding sequences facilitate multiplication of dicistroviruses, because fewer cycle of translation of the nonstructural protein precursor produces larger amounts of VPg proteins in parallel with the increased production of capsid proteins by the intergenic internal ribosome entry site mediated translation.     

Assembly of Recombinant Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus Capsids

The dicistrovirus Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) has been implicated in the worldwide decline of honey bees. Studies of IAPV and many other bee viruses in pure culture are restricted by available isolates and permissive cell culture. Here we show that coupling the IAPV major structural precursor protein ORF2 to its cognate 3C-like processing enzyme results in processing of the precursor to the individual structural proteins in a number of insect cell lines following expression by a recombinant baculovirus. The efficiency of expression is influenced by the level of IAPV 3C protein and moderation of its activity is required for optimal expression. The mature IAPV structural proteins assembled into empty capsids that migrated as particles on sucrose velocity gradients and showed typical dicistrovirus like morphology when examined by electron microscopy. Monoclonal antibodies raised to recombinant capsids were configured into a diagnostic test specific for the presence of IAPV. Recombinant capsids for each of the many bee viruses within the picornavirus family may provide virus specific reagents for the on-going investigation of the causes of honeybee loss.     

Bypassing translation initiation

A high-resolution cryo-EM reconstruction of a ribosome-bound dicistrovirus IRES (Schüler et al., 2006) and the crystal structure of its ribosome binding domain (Pfingsten et al., 2006) provide new insights into an exceptional eukaryotic translation mechanism.     

Selection of peptides for serological detection of equine infectious anemia

Equine infectious anemia caused by equine infectious anemia virus is an important disease due to its high severity and incidence in animals. We used a phage display library to isolate peptides that can be considered potential markers for equine infectious anemia diagnosis. We selected peptides using IgG purified from a pool comprised of 20 sera from animals naturally infected with equine infectious anemia virus. The diagnostic potential of these peptides was investigated by ELISA, Western blot and dot blot with purified IgG and serum samples. Based on the results, we chose a peptide mimetic for glycoprotein gp45 epitopes of equine infectious anemia virus, with potential for use as an antigen in indirect diagnostic assays. Synthesis of this peptide has possible applications for the development of new diagnostic tools for this disease.     

Removal of virus from boar semen spiked with porcine circovirus type 2

The virus porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is associated with different disease entities, including reproductive failure. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of a semen processing technique for the elimination of infectious PCV2 in semen. PCV2 was chosen as a model virus because of its small size, high resistance to inactivation and as a known risk factor for boar semen contamination. Aliquots of ejaculates were spiked with PCV2 and processed by a double processing technique, consisting of Single Layer Centrifugation on Androcoll?-P followed by a "swim-up" procedure. Samples were collected from the resulting fractions during the selection process and analyzed for the presence of infectious PCV2. Virus titres were determined by performing a 50% tissue culture infective dose assay (TCID(50)) by end point dilution and with the use of an indirect peroxidise monolayer assay technique. With an initial infectious virus titre of 3.25-3.82 (TCID(50))/50μL the two-step sperm selection method eliminated 2.92±0.23 logs of infectious PCV2, corresponding to more than 99% reduction. Sperm quality was not affected by the selection procedure.     

Virus susceptibility of the fish cell line SAF-1 derived from gilt-head seabream

The recently reported SAF-1 cell line from fins of gilt-head seabream was evaluated for susceptibility to lymphocystis disease virus (LDV) and to several salmonid fish viruses, such as infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), viral haemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) and several strains of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). LDV, VHSV and IHNV replicated well in the cultured fin cells as demonstrated by cell lysis and increases in viral titer. The potential use of this cell line to detect viruses from fish marine species is discussed.