Dataset Information

Molecular and biophysical characterization of TT virus: evidence for a new virus family infecting humans.

ABSTRACT: The recent isolation of a novel DNA virus from the serum of a Japanese patient (T.T.) has provided the latest possible candidate virus associated with cryptogenic hepatitis. In the present study, we report the complete nucleotide sequence of this virus (TTV) isolated from the serum of a West African. Based on PCR studies designed to amplify overlapping regions of the viral genome and sensitivity to digestion with mung bean nuclease, the viral genome is circular and negative stranded, and comprises 3,852 nt, which is 113 nt longer than the prototype isolate from Japan. Cesium chloride density gradient centrifugation demonstrated banding of the virus at 1.31-1.34 g/ml; filtration studies indicated that TTV had a particle size of 30-50 nm. These results suggest that the virus is similar to the Circoviridae, viruses known to infect plants and vertebrates (e. g., birds and swine); however, sequence similarity searches of available databases did not reveal identity between TTV and other viruses. Phylogenetic analyses of a 260-nt region from 151 globally distributed isolates demonstrated the existence of three major TTV genotypes. Several individuals at high risk for infection with parenterally transmitted viruses were infected with more than one genotype. There was no correlation between genotype and geographic origin. Finally, intravenous inoculation of TTV-positive human serum into chimpanzees demonstrated that TTV can be transmitted to primates; no biochemical or histological evidence for hepatitis was obtained. The distinct biophysical and molecular characteristics of TTV suggest that it is a member of a new family of viruses, which we have tentatively named the Circinoviridae.

SUBMITTER: Mushahwar IK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC15915 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Molecular and biophysical characterization of TT virus: evidence for a new virus family infecting humans.

Mushahwar I K IK Erker J C JC Muerhoff A S AS Leary T P TP Simons J N JN Birkenmeyer L G LG Chalmers M L ML Pilot-Matias T J TJ Dexai S M SM

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19990301 6

The recent isolation of a novel DNA virus from the serum of a Japanese patient (T.T.) has provided the latest possible candidate virus associated with cryptogenic hepatitis. In the present study, we report the complete nucleotide sequence of this virus (TTV) isolated from the serum of a West African. Based on PCR studies designed to amplify overlapping regions of the viral genome and sensitivity to digestion with mung bean nuclease, the viral genome is circular and negative stranded, and compris ...[more]

PMID: 10077657

Similar Datasets

Project description:Nearly complete sequences of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) infecting 18 different nonhuman primate species in sub-Saharan Africa have now been reported; yet, our understanding of the origins, evolutionary history, and geographic distribution of these viruses still remains fragmentary. Here, we report the molecular characterization of a lentivirus (SIVdeb) naturally infecting De Brazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus). Complete SIVdeb genomes (9,158 and 9227 bp in length) were amplified from uncultured blood mononuclear cell DNA of two wild-caught De Brazza's monkeys from Cameroon. In addition, partial pol sequences (650 bp) were amplified from four offspring of De Brazza's monkeys originally caught in the wild in Uganda. Full-length (9068 bp) and partial pol (650 bp) SIVsyk sequences were also amplified from Sykes's monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis) from Kenya. Analysis of these sequences identified a new SIV clade (SIVdeb), which differed from previously characterized SIVs at 40 to 50% of sites in Pol protein sequences. The viruses most closely related to SIVdeb were SIVsyk and members of the SIVgsn/SIVmus/SIVmon group of viruses infecting greater spot-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans), mustached monkeys (Cercopithecus cephus), and mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona), respectively. In phylogenetic trees of concatenated protein sequences, SIVdeb, SIVsyk, and SIVgsn/SIVmus/SIVmon clustered together, and this relationship was highly significant in all major coding regions. Members of this virus group also shared the same number of cysteine residues in their extracellular envelope glycoprotein and a high-affinity AIP1 binding site (YPD/SL) in their p6 Gag protein, as well as a unique transactivation response element in their viral long terminal repeat; however, SIVdeb and SIVsyk, unlike SIVgsn, SIVmon, and SIVmus, did not encode a vpu gene. These data indicate that De Brazza's monkeys are naturally infected with SIVdeb, that this infection is prevalent in different areas of the species' habitat, and that geographically diverse SIVdeb strains cluster in a single virus group. The consistent clustering of SIVdeb with SIVsyk and the SIVmon/SIVmus/SIVgsn group also suggests that these viruses have evolved from a common ancestor that likely infected a Cercopithecus host in the distant past. The vpu gene appears to have been acquired by a subset of these Cercopithecus viruses after the divergence of SIVdeb and SIVsyk.

Dataset Information

Molecular and biophysical characterization of TT virus: evidence for a new virus family infecting humans.

Publications

Molecular and biophysical characterization of TT virus: evidence for a new virus family infecting humans.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets