Abstract
The lack of knowledge about the natural host of Vaccinia virus (VV) along with the description of human infections caused by poxviruses after smallpox eradication has increased the need to characterize poxviruses isolated from the wild. Moreover, in the past years poxviruses have been widely studied as potential vaccination tools, with the discovery of several genes implicated in the evasion of the host immune response involved in virus pathogenesis. Among them, an Interferon (IFN)-binding protein was identified in the supernatant of VV strain WR infected cells coded by the B18R gene. It was shown that many other Orthopoxviruses also encode and express this soluble receptor although some VV strains such as Lister and modified Ankara, which were less reactogenic vaccines, do not. The BeAn 58058 virus (BAV) has been recently characterized and proposed to be an Orthopoxvirus. BAV was also shown to be less virulent in animal models than VV Lister. Here we report the identification of an IFN-α/βR gene in the BAV genome with 99% of sequence identity with the VVWR B18R gene. The identified gene encodes a B18R-like IFN binding protein as demonstrated by its capacity to inhibit the IFN-mediated protection of VERO cells against EMC virus. In order to better characterize the virus we have searched for the A type inclusion body (ATI) gene currently used in the classification of Orthopoxviruses but did not detect it in the BAV genome. We have also sequenced the BAV thymidine kinase (TK) gene, a poxvirus-conserved gene, which, as expected, showed high homology with the TK gene of other poxviruses. Phylogenetic trees were constructed based on sequences of the IFN-α/βR and TK genes from several poxviruses and in both cases BAV was placed in the same cluster as other VV strains. These observations strengthened the hypothesis that this virus is a variant of the VV vaccine used in Brazil. However the explanation for the BAV lack of virulence remains to be discovered.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sutter G. and Moss B., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89, 10847-10851, 1992.
Bender B.S., Rowe C.A., Taylor F., Wyatt L.S., Moss B., and Small P.A., J Virol 70, 6418-6424, 1996.
Wyatt L.S., Shors S.T., Murphy B.R., and Moss B., Vaccine 14, 1451-1458, 1996.
Wyatt L.S., Carrol M.W., Czerny C.P., Merchlinsky M., Sisler J.R., and Moss B., Virology 251, 334-342, 1998.
Baxby D., Arch Virol 55, 169-179, 1977.
Baxby D., Gaskell R.M., Gaskell C.J., and Bennet M., Lancet 2, 850-851, 1986.
Boulanger D., Crouch A., Brochier B., Bennet M., Clèment J., Gaskell R.M., Baxby D., and Pastoret P.-P., Vet Rec 138, 247-249, 1986.
DaFonseca F.G., Lanna M.C.S., Campos M.A.S., Kitajima E.W., Peres J.N., Golgher R.R., Ferreira P.C.P., and Kroon E.G., Arch Virol 143, 1171-1186, 1998.
Damaso R.A., Esposito J.J., Condit R.C., and Moussatché, N. Virology 277, 439-449, 2000.
Buller R.M.E. and Palumbo G.J., Microbiol Rev 55, 80-122, 1991.
Moss B., Ann Rev Biochem 59, 561-568, 1990.
Black E.M. and Hruby E.D., J Biol Chem 267, 9743-9748, 1992.
Meyer H., Roop S.L., and Esposito J.J., J Virol Methods 64, 217-221, 1997.
Smith G.L., Symons J.A., Khanna A., Vanderplasschen A.E., and Alcamí A., Immunol Rev 159, 137-154, 1997.
Smith G.L., Curr Opin Immunol 8, 467-471, 1996.
Colamonici O.R., Domanski P., Sweitzer S.M., Larner A.E., and Buller R.M.L., J Biol Chem 270, 15974-15978, 1995.
Symons J.A., Alcamí A., and Smith G.L., Cell 81, 551-560, 1995.
Alcamí A., Symons J.A., and Smith G.L., J Virol 74, 11230-11239, 2000.
Blanchard T.J., Alcamí A., Andrea P., and Smith G.L., J Gen Virol 79, 1159-1167, 1998.
Woodal J.P., Virus Research in Amazonia. In Simpósio Sobre A Biota Amazonica. Belém, 31-63, 1967.
Ueda Y., Dumbell K.R., Tsuruhara T., and Tagaya I., J Gen Virol 40, 236-276, 1978.
Esposito J.J., Palmer E.L., Borden E.C., Harrison A.K., Obijeski J.F., and Murphy F.A., J Gen Virol 47, 37-46, 1980.
Campos M.A.S., and Kroon E.G., Rev Microbiol 24, 104-110, 1993.
Joklik W.K., Virology 18, 9-18, 1962.
Ferreira P.C.P., Peixoto M.L.P., Silva M.A.N., and Golgher R.R., J Clin Microbiol 9, 471-475, 1979.
Esposito J.J. and Knight J.C., Virology 143, 230-251, 1985.
Church G.M. and Gilbert W., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81, 1991-1995, 1984.
Innis M.A. and Gelfano D.H. (ed.) Optimization of Pcrs Academic Press, New York, 1990, pp. 3-12.
Stüber D., Matile H., and Garotta G., Immunol Methods IV, 121-152, 1990.
Chomczynski P. and Sacchi N., Anal Biochem 12, 156-159, 1987.
Sambrook J., Fritsch E.F., and Maniatis T., Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1989.
Sanger F., Nicklen S., and Coulson A.R., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74, 5463, 1977.
Altschul S.F., Gish W., Miller W., Myers E.W., and Lipman D.J., J Mol Biol 215, 403-410, 1990.
Van Der Peer Y. and Wachter R., Comput Applic Biosci 10, 569-570, 1994.
Amano H., Ueda Y., and Tagaya I., J Gen Virol 44, 265-269, 1979.
Alcamí A., and Smith G.L., Immunol Today 16, 474-478, 1995.
Miller C.G., Shchelkunov S.N., and Kotwal G.J., Virology 229, 6-133, 1997.
Nam J.H., Wyatt L., Chae S.L., Cho H.W., Park Y.K., and Moss B., Vaccine 17, 261-268, 1998.
Wyatt L., Whitehead S.S., Venanzi K.A., Murphy B.R., and Moss B., Vaccine 18, 2-397, 2000.
Ourmanov I., Brown C.R., Moss B., Carrol M., Wyatt L., Pletnev L., Goldstein S., Venzon D., and Hirsch V., J Virol 74, 40-2751, 2000.
Mayr A., Hochstein-Mintzel V., and Stickl H., Infection 3, 6-16, 1975.
Funahashi S., Sato T., and Shida H., J Gen Virol 69, 35-47, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marques, J.T., de Souza Trindade, G., Guimaraes da Fonseca, F. et al. Characterization of ATI, TK and IFN-α/βR Genes in the Genome of the BeAn 58058 Virus, a Naturally Attenuated Wild Orthopoxvirus. Virus Genes 23, 291–301 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012521322845
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012521322845