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Title: ROLE OF BLUETONGUE VIRUS VP7 PROTEIN ON CELL-SURFACE BINDING IN THE INSECT VECTOR, CULICOIDES VARIIPENNIS.

Author
item XU, GANG - USDA-ARS-ABADRL
item Larson, Marlin
item Wilson, William

Submitted to: American Society for Virology Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/8/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The infection process of bluetongue virus (BTV) is different in insect cells than in mammalian cells. This difference may occur during virus cell-surface binding. Because of its accessibility to the surface and the infectivity of BTV core particles to insects, VP7 is the protein most likely to be involved in cell- surface binding. To investigate this possibility, a modified western blot procedure was devised. The results indicated that membrane preparations from Culicoides variipennis, a vector species for BTV's, blocked the antibody detection of VP7 but not VP2. When Drosophila membrane preparations were substituted, the detection was not as significantly decreased. The vector species differ in different geographical areas. If VP7 is involved in interaction with the insect cell-surface, then VP7 should be geographically related. Bootstrapped phylogenetic analysis of the available VP7 protein sequences indicates that with a couple exceptions, this appears to be true.