Sequence diversity within the reovirus S2 gene: Reovirus genes reassort in nature, and their termini are predicted to form a panhandle motif

James D. Chappell, Mehmet I. Goral, Steven E. Rodgers, Claude W. Depamphilis, Terence S. Dermody

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

To better understand genetic diversity within mammalian reoviruses, we determined S2 nucleotide and deduced σ2 amino acid sequences of nine reovirus strains and compared these sequences with those of prototype strains of the three reovirus serotypes. The S2 gene and σ2 protein are highly conserved among the four type 1, one type 2, and seven type 3 strains studied. Phylogenetic analyses based on S2 nucleotide sequences of the 12 reovirus strains indicate that diversity within the S2 gene is independent of viral serotype. Additionally, we found marked topological differences between phylogenetic trees generated from S1 and S2 gene nucleotide sequences of the seven type 3 strains. These results demonstrate that reovirus S1 and S2 genes have distinct evolutionary histories, thus providing phylogenetic evidence for lateral transfer of reovirus genes in nature. When variability among the 12 σ2-encoding S2 nucleotide sequences was analyzed at synonymous positions, we found that approximately 60 nucleotides at the 5' terminus and 30 nucleotides at the 3' terminus were markedly conserved in comparison with other σ2-encoding regions of S2. Predictions of RNA secondary structures indicate that the more conserved S2 sequences participate in the formation of an extended region of duplex RNA interrupted by a pair of stem-loops. Among the 12 deduced σ2 amino acid sequences examined, substitutions were observed at only 11% of amino acid positions. This finding suggests that constraints on the structure or function of σ2, perhaps in part because of its location in the virion core, have limited sequence diversity within this protein.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)750-756
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of virology
Volume68
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1994

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Insect Science
  • Virology

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