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Isolation of a GB virus‐related genome from a chimpanzee
Author(s) -
Birkenmeyer Larry G.,
Desai Suresh M.,
Muerhoff A. Scott,
Leary Thomas P.,
Simons John N.,
Montes Carla C.,
Mushahwar Isa K.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199809)56:1<44::aid-jmv8>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - virology , virus , biology , gb virus c , viral quasispecies , novel virus , hepatitis c virus , genome , flaviviridae , genetics , gene
Recently, two new flaviviruses, GB virus A (GBV‐A) and GB virus B (GBV‐B), were identified in the plasma of a tamarin infected with the hepatitis GB agent. A third virus, GB virus C (GBV‐C), was subsequently identified in humans. In the current study, representational difference analysis (RDA) was used to search for a new virus in the serum of a chimpanzee that developed acute resolving hepatitis following inoculation with a pool of chimpanzee plasma. The plasma pool originated from serial passages of a human sample containing virus‐like particles. Numerous cDNA clones were obtained that exhibited 62–80% identity with GBV‐C. With the exception of the extreme 5′ and 3′ ends, the complete viral genome was sequenced, revealing a single large open reading frame encoding a 2833 amino acid polyprotein that contains two envelope proteins, two proteases, a helicase, and an RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase. Phylogenetic analysis of the new virus indicates that it is closely related to GBV‐C, yet still sufficiently divergent as to be placed in a separate group, tentatively labeled GB virus C troglodytes (GBV‐C tro ). Numerous human samples were screened by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR), but GBV‐C tro sequence was not detected. However, a second chimpanzee inoculated with the same plasma pool was shown to develop a GBV‐C tro infection. Although isolated from an Old World primate with hepatitis, the primary host of GBV‐C tro and any association with disease remains to be determined. J. Med. Virol. 56:44–51, 1998 . © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.