RNA polymerase I-mediated expression of viral RNA for the rescue of infectious virulent and avirulent Rift Valley fever viruses

Billecocq, A., Gauliard, N., Le May, N., Elliott, R.M., Flick, R. and Bouloy, M. (2008) RNA polymerase I-mediated expression of viral RNA for the rescue of infectious virulent and avirulent Rift Valley fever viruses. Virology, 378(2), pp. 377-384. (doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2008.05.033)

Abstract

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV, Bunyaviridae, Phlebovirus) is a mosquito-transmitted arbovirus that causes human and animal diseases in sub-Saharan Africa and was introduced into the Arabian Peninsula in 2000. Here, we describe a method of reverse genetics to recover infectious RVFV from transfected plasmids based on the use of the cellular RNA polymerase I promoter to synthesize viral transcripts. We compared its efficiency with a system using T7 RNA polymerase and found that both are equally efficient for the rescue of RVFV generating titers of approx. 10⁷ to 10⁸ pfu/ml. We used the RNA polymerase I-based system to rescue both attenuated MP12 and virulent ZH548 strains as well as chimeric MP12-ZH548 viruses, and in addition RVFV expressing reporter proteins.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Elliott, Professor Richard
• Authors: Billecocq, A., Gauliard, N., Le May, N., Elliott, R.M., Flick, R., and Bouloy, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Virology
• ISSN: 0042-6822
• ISSN (Online): 1096-0341