Ross River virus mutant with a deletion in the E2 gene: properties of the virion, virus-specific macromolecule synthesis, and attenuation of virulence for mice

Abstract

A mutant of RRV T48 the prototype strain of Ross River virus has been isolated with a 21-nucleotide deletion in the gene coding for the envelope glycoprotein E2. Direct sequencing of the 26 S subgenomic RNA, together with HaeIII and TaqI restriction digest analysis of cDNA to RNAs from cells infected with the mutant virus (RRV dE2) and with RRV T48, were consistent with the deletion being the only major alteration in the mutant genome. The E2 protein of RRV dE2 virions had a higher electrophoretic mobility than that of RRV T48 E2 protein. Neither RRV dE2 nor RRV T48 virions contained more than trace amounts of E3, the small envelope glycoprotein found in Semliki Forest virus. RRV dE2 generated small plaques on Vero cell monolayers; plaque formation was not temperature-sensitive between 32 and 41°. By comparison with RRV T48 the infectivity of RRV dE2 virions was thermolabile at 50°. In BHK cells RRV dE2 grew with similar kinetics to RRV T48. Rates of synthesis of 26 S RNA and 49 S RNA were higher in cells infected with RRV dE2 than in cells infected with RRV T48. Virus-specific protein synthesis and shut-down of host protein synthesis occurred 2-3 hr earlier in RRV dE2-infected cells than in cells infected with RRV T48. Minor differences between the two viruses were observed in the profiles of virus-specific proteins generated in infected cells. In day-old mice RRV dE2 induced less severe symptoms of hind leg paralysis than did RRV T48. A small increase in LD₅₀and average survival time was observed in RRV dE2-infected mice by comparison with RRV T48 infected mice. Peak titers reached by RRV dE2 in the hind leg muscle, brain, and blood of day-old mice were 3-4 log units less than the titers reached during infection with RRV T48. In week-old mice the differences in virulence between the two strains were magnified: RRV dE2 induced no detectable symptoms even when injected at high doses (8×10⁶ PFU) whereas the LD50 and average survival time for RRV T48 were unchanged from those in day-old mice. Peak RRV dE2 titers in hind leg muscle, brain, and blood, respectively, were 2, 5, and 5 log units less than the corresponding titers for RRV T48. Peak muscle titers reached by RRV dE2 were similar (~10⁸ PFU/g tissue) in day-old mice where lethality was high and in week-old mice where the virus was avirulent. In brain tissue, peak RRV dE2 titers were 10⁷ and 10° PFU/g, respectively, in day-old and week-old mice. Since the corresponding figures for RRV T48 were 10¹¹ and 10⁹ PFU/g, the outcome of RRV infection was probably determined more by the extent of replication in neural tissues than in muscle tissues.