Infections with pestiviruses occur in cattle, sheep, pigs and also in numerous other ungulate species. In the present study, pestiviruses from goat, buffalo, deer and giraffe were analysed at the molecular level ; unusual strains from cattle and pigs were also included. A phylogenetic analysis of the respective pestiviruses was undertaken on the basis of a fragment from the 5h noncoding region as well as the gene encoding autoprotease N pro . Statistical analyses of the respective phylogenetic trees based on the 5h NCR revealed low confidence levels for most of the branches, while the structure of the tree based on the N pro gene was supported by high bootstrap values. Accordingly, the isolates from goat, buffalo and deer can be grouped together

No abstract

No abstract

Two border disease virus (BDV) pairs each consisting of cytopathogenic (cp) and non-cp viruses have been analyzed at the molecular level. Within the NS2-3 (p125) encoding region of both cp viruses, insertions of cellular sequences were identified which were absent in the corresponding non-cp isolates. A comparative sequence analysis revealed that within each pair the cp and non-cp viruses are almost identical. This strongly suggests that the cp BDV isolates developed from the non-cp viruses by RNA recombination between the viral genome and cellular sequences. Nonstructural protein NS3 (p80) was demonstrated after infection with both cp BDV strains. In addition, fusion proteins composed of cellular and viral sequences were identified. In contrast, expression of NS3 and the fusion proteins was not found after infection with the respective non-cp counterparts.

No abstract