Summary
Two temperature-sensitive mutants of western equine encephalitis virus were detected among 96 plaques derived from virus treated with N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. One of the two, tsNG 39 mutant, was able to stimulate substantial ribonucleic acid synthesis at nonpermissive temperature of 42° C, though it did not produce infectious virus or hemagglutinin. At that temperature the wild-type and mutant virus particles had identical heat stability, while the mutant virus was found to be highly thermolabile at 50° C. In addition, the mutant exhibited low virulence for adult mice. Growth and back-mutation of the mutant in the brain of mice is discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appleyard, G., J. D. Oram, andJ. L. Stanley: Dissociation of Semliki Forest virus into biologically active components. J. gen. Virol.9, 179–189 (1970).
Burge, B. W., andE. R. Pfefferkorn: Isolation and characterization of conditional-lethal mutants of Sindbis virus. Virology30, 204–213 (1966).
Chanock, R. M.: Control of acute mycoplasma and viral respiratory tract disease. Science169, 248–256 (1970).
Clark, D. H., andJ. Casals: Techniques for hemagglutination and hemagglutination-inhibition with arthropod borne viruses. Amer. J. trop. Med. Hyg.7, 561–573 (1958).
Clark, H. F., andH. Koprowski: Isolation of temperature-sensitive conditional lethal mutants of “fixed” rabies virus. J. Virol.7, 295–300 (1971).
Fenner, F.: Conditional lethal mutants of animal viruses. In: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology48 pp. 1–28 (W. Arber et al., eds.), Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag, 1969.
Gharpure, M. A., P. F. Wright, andR. M. Chanock: Temperature-sensitive mutants of respiratory syncytial virus. J. Virol.3, 414–421 (1969).
Hallum, J. V., andJ. S. Youngner: Urea and thermal mutants of poliovirus. J. Bact.91, 2305–2308 (1966).
Karabatsos, N., andS. M. Buckley: Susceptibility of the baby-hamster kidney-cell line (BHK-21) to infection with arbovirusos. Amer. J. trop. Med. Hyg.16, 99–105 (1967).
Lodish, H. F., K. Horiuchi, andN. D. Zinder: Mutants of bacteriophage f2. V. On the production of noninfectious phage particles. Virology27, 139–155 (1965).
Mackenzie, J. S.: Virulence of temperature-sensitive mutants of influenza virus. Brit. med. J.3, 757–758 (1969).
Mussgay, M., andR. Rott: Studies on the structure of a hemagglutinating component of a group A arbo virus (Sindbis). Virology23, 573–581 (1964).
Pfefferkorn, E. R.: Temperature-sensitive mutants of animal viruses: Isolation and preliminary characterization. In: Fundamental Techniques in Virology, pp. 87–93 (K. Habel andN. P. Salzman, eds.), New York: Academic Press, 1969.
Scheele, C. M., andE. R. Pfefferkorn: Virus-specific proteins synthesized in cells infected with RNA+ temperature-sensitive mutants of Sindbis virus. J. Virol.5, 329–337 (1970).
Simizu, B., andN. Takayama: Isolation of two plaque mutants of western equine encephalitis virus differing in virulence for mice. J. Virol.4, 799–800 (1969).
Simizu, B., andN. Takayama: Relationship between neurovirulence and temperature sensitivity of an attenuated western equine encephalitis virus. Arch. ges. Virusforsch.35, 242–250 (1971).
Simpson, R. W., andR. E. Hauser: Effect of heat on virions of wild-type Sindbis virus and a thermostable mutant. Virology34, 361–364 (1968).
Singer, B., andH. Fränkel-Conrat: The role of conformation in chemical mutagenesis. Progr. nucl. acid Res. molec. Biol.9, 1–29 (1969).
Sreevlsan, T., andP. T. Allen: Replication of western equine encephalomyelitis virus II. Cytoplasmic structure involved in the synthesis and development of the virions. J. Virol.2, 1038–1046 (1968).
Tan, K. B., J. E. Sambrook, andA. J. D. Bellett: Semliki Forest virus temperature-sensitive mutants: Isolation and characterization. Virology38, 427–439 (1969).
Yamazaki, S., andR. R. Wagner: Action of interferon: Kinetics and differential effects on viral functions. J. Virol.6, 421–429 (1970).
Yin, F. H., andR. Z. Lockart, Jr.: Maturation defects in temperature-sensitive mutants of Sindbis virus. J. Virol.2, 728–737 (1968).
Youngner, J. S.: Thermal inactivation of poliovirus variants. J. Immunol.78, 282–289 (1957).
Zebovitz, E., andA. Brown: Interference among group A arboviruses. J. Virol.2, 1283–1289 (1968).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simizu, B., Takayama, N. Virulence of a temperature-sensitive mutant of western equine encephalitis virus. Archiv f Virusforschung 38, 328–337 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01262823
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01262823