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. 1990 Oct 1;172(4):1043-8.
doi: 10.1084/jem.172.4.1043.

Genetic basis of viral persistence: single amino acid change in the viral glycoprotein affects ability of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus to persist in adult mice

M Matloubian  1 , T Somasundaram, S R Kolhekar, R Selvakumar, R Ahmed
Affiliations

Genetic basis of viral persistence: single amino acid change in the viral glycoprotein affects ability of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus to persist in adult mice

M Matloubian et al. J Exp Med. .

Abstract

This study has identified a single amino acid change in the viral glycoprotein that profoundly affects the ability of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) to persist in its natural host. Adult immunocompetent mice infected with a variant of the Armstrong strain, spleen isolate clone 13 (svA/svA), harbor virus for several months and exhibit suppressed T cell responses. In contrast, adult mice infected with a reassortant virus (svA/wtA) that contains the L segment of the spleen variant and the S segment of the parental wt Armstrong, make potent LCMV-specific CTL responses and clear the infection within 2-4 wk. These two viruses, spleen variant clone 13 and the reassortant svA/wtA, are identical in their noncoding regions and show no amino acid changes in any of their viral genes except for one substitution in the glycoprotein. The reassortant virus svA/wtA has a phenylalanine at amino acid residue 260 of the glycoprotein, whereas the spleen variant clone 13 has a leucine at this position. This study constitutes one of the first reports defining the genetic basis of viral persistence at the whole animal level, and identifying a single mutation that markedly increases the ability of a virus to persist in its natural host.

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