The effects of protease digestion on the polypeptide composition and on the infectivity of striped bass virus, an aquareovirus, were examined. Both trypsin and chymotrypsin enhanced the infectivity of the virus. Enhancement of infectivity was correlated with the digestion of the outer capsid protein, VP7. These studies support the assertion that VP7 is the outermost capsid protein and suggest t...

Comparison of sequence data for Broadhaven (BRD) virus, a tick-borne orbivirus, and bluetongue virus (BTV), the type species of the genus, indicated that RNA segments 2 and 7 of BRD virus encode the two structural core proteins, VP2 and VP7, respectively. Segment 2 is 2792 nucleotides in length with a coding capacity for a protein (VP2) of 908 amino acids and a net charge of +8.5 at neutral pH....

Since the mid-1990s, novel G9 rotaviruses have been detected in many countries, suggesting that G9 is a globally important serotype. The molecular epidemiology of G9 rotaviruses in Taiwan from 2000 to 2002 was investigated in this study. G9 rotavirus first appeared in 2000 with 4 cases and constituted 33.8% and 54.8% of the rotavirus-positive samples in 2001 and 2002, respectively. These G9 str...

In a previous study (S. Zheng, G. N. Woode, D. R. Melendy, and R. F. Ramig, J. Clin. Microbiol. 27:1939-1945, 1989), it was predicted that the VP7 serotype 6 bovine rotavirus strains NCDV and B641 do not share antigenically similar VP4s. In this study, gene 4 and the VP7 gene of B641 were sequenced, and the amino acid sequences were deduced and compared with those of NCDV and bovine rotavirus s...

This study investigated the diversity of rotavirus strains recovered from young children in Lagos, Nigeria, during December 1996-January 1997. In total, 287 children, aged 1-60 month(s), presenting with diarrhoea to the Gbaja Health Centre of Massey Street Children Hospital and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, were included in the study. Rotavirus-positive specimens were characterized by...

Bluetongue virus (BTV) belongs to the genus Orbivirus within the family Reoviridae. The development of vector-based vaccines expressing conserved protective antigens results in increased immune activation and could reduce the number of multiserotype vaccinations required, therefore providing a cost-effective product. Recent recombinant DNA technology has allowed the development of novel strateg...

A novel rotavirus strain (Dhaka6) isolated from a 21-year-old Bangladeshi male patient was characterized by sequence analysis of its VP7 and VP4 gene segments. Phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 gene of the Dhaka6 strain revealed a common evolutionary lineage with porcine G11 rotavirus strains. This isolate is the first reported G11 rotavirus strain infecting a human host. Comparison of the VP4 g...

VP7 and VP4 genotypes of 82 rotavirus strains from children with acute diarrhoea during November 1998-January 1999, in 4 Indian towns, were determined by reverse-transcription PCR. Overall, 68/82 (83%) could be VP7- and 52/82 (63%) VP4-typed. Geographical differences in rotavirus circulation have implications for future vaccination strategies.

Rotavirus, a non-enveloped reovirus, buds into the rough endoplasmic reticulum and transiently acquires a membrane. The structural glycoprotein, VP7, a 38-kD integral membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), presumably transfers to virus in this process. The gene for VP7 potentially encodes a protein of 326 amino acids which has two tandem hydrophobic domains at the NH2-terminal, eac...