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Heterogeneity of the woodchuck hepatitis virus genome in a chronically infected woodchuck.

Authors :
Kew MC
Chestnut T
Baldwin BH
Hornbuckle WE
Tennant BC
Purcell RH
Miller RH
Source :
Virus research [Virus Res] 1993 Mar; Vol. 27 (3), pp. 229-37.
Publication Year :
1993

Abstract

The nucleotide sequence of an isolate of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) from the serum of a woodchuck trapped in New York state (WHVNY) was compared with the sequences of previously published isolates. The nucleotide sequence of WHVNY was closest to that of an isolate originating from New Jersey: the two genomes shared a 15 nucleotide in-frame deletion in the region where the presurface and polymerase genes overlap (nucleotides 3260-3274) and differed by 54 point mutations (1.6% of genome). Amino acid differences ranged from 0.4% in the surface gene to 5.7% in the X gene. Three isolates from woodchucks that originated in Pennsylvania and Maryland did not contain the deletion and differed from WHVNY by 102 to 106 point mutations (3.0% to 3.2% of nucleotides). Amino acid changes ranged from 0.5% in the core gene to 5.7% in the X-gene. Thus, WHVNY differed little from previous isolates. Next, the genomes from 102 independent clones of WHVNY were compared to ascertain the extent of sequence variation among WHV genomes in a chronically infected animal. A total of 98 clones had genomes of unit length while 2 clones had genomes shorter than unit length and 2 clones had genomes longer than unit length. The clones not of unit length possessed deletions or inverted duplications of sequence. The rate of mutation in the viral genes was 2.65 mutations per 10,000 nucleotides in the precore domain, 1.27 per 10,000 in the X-gene, 0.98 per 10,000 in the presurface gene, and 3.77 per 10,000 at the 5' end of the core gene.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0168-1702
Volume :
27
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Virus research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
8488722
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1702(93)90035-l