RNA Recombination In Vivo in the Absence of Viral Replication

AUTOR(ES)

Gallei, Andreas

FONTE

American Society for Microbiology

RESUMO

To study fundamental aspects of RNA recombination, an in vivo RNA recombination system was established. This system allowed the efficient generation of recombinant cytopathogenic pestiviruses after transfection of synthetic, nonreplicatable, subgenomic transcripts in cells infected with a replicating noncytopathogenic virus. Studies addressing the interplay between RNA recombination and replication revealed that cotransfection of noninfected cells with various pairs of nonreplicatable RNA derivatives also led to the emergence of recombinant viral genomes. Remarkably, homologous and nonhomologous recombination occurred between two overlapping transcripts, each lacking different essential parts of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene. Apart from the generally accepted viral replicative copy choice recombination, our results prove the existence of a viral RdRp-independent mechanism of RNA recombination that occurs in vivo. It appears likely that such a mechanism not only contributes to the evolution of RNA viruses but also leads to the generation of recombinant cellular RNAs.

Documentos Relacionados

• Replication of viral RNA by a defective interfering vesicular stomatitis virus particle in the absence of helper virus.
• Poliovirus RNA recombination: mechanistic studies in the absence of selection.
• Influenza virus RNA replication in vitro: synthesis of viral template RNAs and virion RNAs in the absence of an added primer.
• In vivo RNA-RNA recombination of coronavirus in mouse brain.
• RNA recombination in a coronavirus: recombination between viral genomic RNA and transfected RNA fragments.