Abstract
Hantaviruses possess three RNA segments of negative sense. Co-infection of closely related hantaviruses may result in generation of a progeny virus with genomic polyploidy, containing a partial or complete set of genome originated from more than one parental virus. To characterize the formation of viral genomic polyploidy, cultured Vero-E6 cells were co-infected with two closely related hantaviruses, Hantaan and Maaji, and the progeny viruses examined. The genotype of plaque-purified viruses was analyzed by a virus-specific RT-PCR. Seventy percent (67/96) of the progeny virus was categorized as Hantaan and 3.3% (2/96) was classified as Maaji, whereas 20% (21/96) was considered polyploidy as they contained both types of the S RNA segment. Most of the polyploidy progeny viruses were unstable and gave rise to either one of the parental viruses or a reassortant after several rounds of plaque purification. No recombination between the heterologous pair of S RNA was observed for those polyploid viruses during three consecutive plaque-to-plaque passages. These data suggest that the viral polyploidy fomation constitutes a primary mechanism underlying the generation of a newly emerged hantavirus.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1017-1025 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of microbiology and biotechnology |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 7 |
Publication status | Published - 2006 Jul |
Keywords
- Diploid
- Genetic reassortment
- Hantaan virus
- Hantavirus
- Maaji virus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology