Utilization of Homotypic and Heterotypic Proteins of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus by Defective Interfering Particle Genomes for RNA Replication and Virion Assembly: Implications for the Mechanism of Homologous Viral Interference

Abstract

Defective interfering (DI) particles of Indiana serotype of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV Ind ) are capable of interfering with the replication of both homotypic VSV Ind and heterotypic New Jersey serotype (VSV NJ ) standard virus. In contrast, DI particles from VSV NJ do not interfere with the replication of VSV Ind standard virus but do interfere with VSV NJ replication. The differences in the interfering activities of VSV Ind DI particles and VSV NJ DI particles against heterotypic standard virus were investigated. We examined the utilization of homotypic and heterotypic VSV proteins by DI particle genomic RNAs for replication and maturation into infectious DI particles. Here we show that the RNA-nucleocapsid protein (N) complex of one serotype does not utilize the polymerase complex (P and L) of the other serotype for RNA synthesis, while DI particle genomic RNAs of both serotypes can utilize the N, P, and L proteins of either serotype without serotypic restriction but with differing efficiencies as long as all three proteins are derived from the same serotype. The genomic RNAs of VSV Ind DI particles assembled and matured into DI particles by using either homotypic or heterotypic viral proteins. In contrast, VSV NJ DI particles could assemble only with homotypic VSV NJ viral proteins, although the genomic RNAs of VSV NJ DI particles could be replicated by using heterotypic VSV Ind N, P, and L proteins. Thus, we concluded that both efficient RNA replication and assembly of DI particles are required for the heterotypic interference by VSV DI particles.The mechanism of homologous viral interference mediated by defective interfering (DI) particles has been the subject of investigation for several decades, with the expectation that an understanding of homologous viral interference at the molecular level may lead us to the development of virus-specific, antiviral therapeutic agents. DI particles are subgenomic virus particles, which are generated from the standard virus during undiluted, high-multiplicity passages. DI particles depend on the viral proteins provided by the standard virus for their replication and maturation, yet they interfere with the replication of standard virus in vitro and in vivo. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) has been frequently utilized to study the mechanism of the homologous viral interference, since VSV DI particles are physically separable from the standard virus. We isolated two panhandle-type DI particles from the two different serotypes of VSV, VSV Ind DI particle (I DI ) from Indiana serotype (26) and VSV NJ DI particle (NJ DI ) from New Jersey serotype (4), and characterized their genomic structures and interfering activities in our laboratory (4). Among several types of DI particles of VSV, the panhandle-type DI particles are the most commonly isolated. Panhandle-type DI particles contain various lengths of inverse complementary sequences at the 3Ј and 5Ј termini of their genome (13,21). The 3Ј genomic terminus of the panhandle-type DI particle is exactly the same as the 3Ј ...

Asymmetric competitive suppression between strains of dengue virus

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Limited Interference at the Early Stage of Infection between Two Recombinant Novirhabdoviruses: Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus and Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus

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