ABSTRACT
The main molecular biology parameters of an attenuated mutant DMS-20/6 of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus derived by treatment with dimethylsulphate of the wild type virus (strain No. 627) were determined. The sedimentation coefficient of sucrose density gradient purified and concentrated virus was 280 S, the buoyant density of virions in sucrose density gradient was 1.19 g/cm3. The DMS-20/6 virion had 3 proteins with molecular weights of 56, 50, and 34 kilodaltons, and the size of virions by negative staining was 58-77 nm.
Subject(s)
Alphavirus/analysis , Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine/analysis , Mutation , Centrifugation, Zonal , Dimethyl Sulfoxide/pharmacology , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel , Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine/drug effects , Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine/isolation & purification , Microscopy, Electron , Viral Proteins/analysis , Viral Proteins/isolation & purification , Virion/analysis , Virion/drug effects , Virion/isolation & purification , Virulence/drug effectsABSTRACT
Comparative analysis of structural virion polypeptides of 24 selected EEE virus strains, representing North and South American types, was performed by one-dimensional discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The structural proteins of different EEE virus isolates, resolved by this method, exhibited mol.wts. values in the range of 57-60 X 10(3) for (E-1), 51-54 X 10(3) for (E-2) and 35-38 X 10(3) daltons for the core (NP) nucleocapsid. The exception was the South American human lethal virus, TRVL-89287 strain, which was shown to possess only a single envelope glycoprotein. The high molecular weight envelope (E-1) glycoprotein species was absent or co-migrated adjacent to the smaller envelope (E-2) glycoprotein. Results indicated similarities in the core (NP) proteins, however greater variability in the envelope (E-/ and/or E-2) glycoproteins. Based on these variations seven distinct profiles could be observed among the EEE virus strain studied. The classification based on the patterns of structural polypeptides obtained by SDS-PAGE of these strains does not correlate well with any other previously reported in vitro characteristics (antigenic subtypes, HTP elution profiles) nor with the in vivo virulence markers.
