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The California serogroup viruses are important human pathogens, originally discovered in the United States, but now recognized to occur and cause disease in many parts of the world. In addition to their significance to public health, study of their natural history has resulted in a better understanding of the way in which arboviruses are maintained in nature. Viruses of the California serogroup have also been carefully investigated on the molecular level, resulting in a better appreciation of how viruses are constructed, organized, and replicate. William C. Reeves, in whose honor this symposium is held, has contributed throughout his career to each of these fields of endeavor. His pioneering work on these viruses, beginning with the discovery of the prototype California encephalitis virus, has helped to establish the foundations upon which our current understanding of these viruses is built.

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La Crosse virus, a member of the California serogroup of the family Bunyaviridae, causes encephalitis in humans and laboratory rodents. A variant virus (V22) selected with a monoclonal antibody against the large (G1) glycoprotein showed diminished neuroinvasiveness after peripheral inoculation. This variant has an alteration in its fusion function, requiring a lower pH for the activation of fusion and demonstrating reduced efficiency of cell-to-cell fusion of BHK-21 cultures. V22 was studied in detail following the infection by intraperitoneal or intracerebral routes in suckling, weanling, or adult CD-1 mice. It exhibited a marked reduction in its ability to replicate in striated muscle and to produce viremia; however, after intracerebral injection V22 virus replicated almost as rapidly in brain as its parent, La Crosse virus. V22 virus thus represents an example of reduced neuroinvasiveness associated with an alteration at a specific epitope of the G1 glycoprotein. This same epitope also influences the fusion activity of the glycoprotein.

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The genome of La Crosse virus, a member of the Bunyaviridae, is made up of three molecules. Circular nucleocapsid structures, in three size classes, have been isolated from La Crosse virus (Obijeski et al. J. Virol. 20:664-675, 1976). Recently, Obijeski et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 8:2431-2438) have found that the 5' and 3' ends of each segment are complementary in sequence. We determined that a 5' and 3' end complementary structure, predicted by the rules of Tinoco et al. (Nature [London] 230:362-367), can and will anneal under certain conditions. This structure is resistant to RNase in high-salt medium and can be isolated in a reasonably high yield.

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Inkoo virus (a bunyavirus) was grown in BHK-21 cells and labelled with [35S]methionine or [3H]mannose. [35S]Methionine labelled the two envelope glycoproteins G1 (Mr = 125000) and G2 (Mr = 35000), as well as the nucleocapsid protein N (Mr = 25000). Only G1 and G2 were labelled with the sugar precursor. The [3H]mannose-labelled virus was solubilized with detergent and digested with Pronase. The structure of the labelled glycopeptides originating from the mixture of G1 and G2 was studied by degrading the glycans stepwise with specific exo- and endoglycosidases, and by analysing the products by both gel and paper chromatography, as well as lectin-affinity chromatography. Three classes of N-glycosidic glycans were found: complex glycans with the monosaccharide sequence (NeuNAc alpha Gal beta GlcNac beta) greater than or equal to 2 (Man)3 (GlcNAc)2 (occurrence of fucose was not studied), high mannose-type chains with the average structure (Man)4-6 (GlcNAc)2, and endoglycosidase H-resistant small glycans which were partly susceptible to mannosidase. These latter types of oligosaccharide chains are a novel finding among virus glycoproteins. The relative ratio of the three types of oligosaccharide chains was roughly 4 . 6:1:1 respectively. The G1 glycoprotein carried most of the sugar chains, since it contained 85% of the [3H]mannose label. The results are discussed in relation to the site of virus maturation at smooth-surfaced vesicles in the Golgi region.

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The 3' terminal nucleotide sequences of the three virus RNA species of viruses representing eight serogroups of bunyaviruses (genus Bunyavirus, Bunyaviridae) and six serogroups of nairoviruses (genus Nairovirus, Bunyaviridae) have been characterized. Members of the Bunyavirus genus have conserved 3' end sequences (generally, 3' UCAUCACAUGA...) that differ from the conserved 3' end sequences of members of the Nairovirus genus (generally, 3' AGAGUUUCU...).

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Analyses of the viral ribonucleic acids and structural polypeptides of 17-22 of the 119 accepted or proposed members of the Bunyavirus genus of arboviruses (family Bunyaviridae), have shown that from the standpoint of their structural components these viruses are highly comparable to each other. The average molecular weights for the three viral RNA species (L, large, M, medium, S, small) of 17 bunyaviruses were 2.93 X 10(6) (L, range 2.7-3.1 X 10(6)), 2.0 X 10(6) (M, range 1.8-2.3 X 10(6)), and 0.435 X 10(6) (Sm range 0.28-0.50 X 10(6)). The average molecular weights of the three major virion polypeptides (glycoproteins G1 and G2, and nucleocapsid protein, N) of 22 bunyaviruses were 115 X 10(3) (G1, range 108-120 X 10(3)), 37 X 10(3) (G2, range 20-41 X 10(3)) and 22 X 10(3) (N, range 19-25 X 10(3)). These results indicate that the structural components of bunyaviruses are different from those reported for Phlebotomus fever, Uukuniemi, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other members of the Bunyaviridae family that are not currently assigned to a genus.

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We have previously reported heterologous genetic recombination resulting from crosses involving temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of La Crosse (LAC) group II and snowshoe hare (SSH) group I ts mutants (J. Gentsch, L. R. Wynne, J. P. Clewley, R. E. Shope, and D. H. L. Bishop, J. Virol. 24:893-902, 1977). From those crosses two reassortant viruses having the large/medium/small viral RNA segment genotypes of SSH/LAC/SSH and SSH/LAC/LAC were obtained. In this study it has been found that the reciprocal cross (SSH group II x LAC group I ts mutants) has not yielded the expected LAC/SSH/SSH or LAC/SSH/LAC reassortant viruses. The backcross of a SSH/LAC/SSH group II ts mutant with a LAC group I ts mutant has produced a new reassortant virus, LAC/LAC/SSH, whereas the backcross of SSH/LAC/LAC group I ts mutants with SSH group II ts mutants gave another reassortant, SSH/SSH/LAC. Backcross analyses of LAC/LAC/SSH group I ts mutants with Group II ts mutants of SSH have not yielded the expected LAC/SSH/SSH reassortant virus, nor have backcrosses of SSH/SSH/LAC group II ts mutants with group I ts mutants of LAC virus yielded the expected LAC/SSH/LAC reassortant. Possible reasons why certain reassortant viruses are not produced are discussed. A procedure to screen SSH-LAC reassortant viruses which differ in their virion N polypeptides is described.

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The three species of single-stranded RNA present in La Crosse virus were examined in the electron microscope. Because large amounts of contaminating cellular DNA are copurified with the virus despite extensive attempts to purify the virus, it was necessary to use procedures that eliminated the bulk of this DNA before the viral RNA was analyzed. When this was done, the modal lengths of La Crosse virus RNA were 0.4, 2.0, and 3.1 mum. These lengths correspond well to their known molecular weights of 0.4 x 106, 1.8 x 106, and 2.9 x 106. Under the denaturing conditions used to permit complete spreading of these single-stranded RNA molecules, no single-stranded circular molecules are observed. Therefore, the circular nucleocapsids present in La Crosse virus and some other bunyaviruses do not appear to be due to convalent linkage of the ends of the RNA genome.

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La Crosse (LAC) virions purified by velocity and equilibrium gradient centrifugation contained three single-stranded RNA species. The three segments had sedimentation coefficients of 31S, 25S, and 12S by sodium dodecyl sulfate-sucrose gradient centrifugation. By comparison with other viral and cellular RNA species, the LAC viral RNAs had molecular weights of 2.9 x 10(6), 1.8 x 10(6), and 0.4 x 10(6). Phenol-sodium dodecyl sulfate-extracted LAC virion RNA was not infectious for BHK-21 cell cultures under conditions in which Sindbis viral RNA was infectious. Treatment of LAC virus with the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 and salt released three nucleocapsid structures, each containing one species of virion RNA. The nucleocapsids had sedimenation coefficients of 115S, 90S, and 65S. Negative-contrast electron microscopy of the nucleocapsids indicated that they were convoluted, supercoiled, and apparently circular. They had a mean diameter of 10 to 12 nm and modal lengths of 200, 510, and 700 nm (some were even longer). By chemical and enzymatic analysis of purified viral RNA, one type of 5' nucleotide (pppAp) present in the proportion of one per RNA segment was identified. After periodate oxidation, each virion RNA species was labeled by reduction with [3H]sodium borohydride. Taken together, these results suggest that although the nucleocapsids appear as closed loops, the viral RNA has free 5' and 3' ends and is, therefore, not circular.

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Preparations of La Crosse virus, a member of the California encephalitis group of bunyaviruses, were found to possess three major virion proteins. Two of the proteins were glycosylated (G1 and G2) and were located on the surface of the virus particles. These two glycoproteins were present in equimolar amounts and possessed apparent molecular weights of 120 X 10(3) and 34 X 10(3). Virion nucleocapsids, isolated by a nonionic detergent and salt treatment, contained another major protein, N (molecular weight = 23 X 10(3)). A large, but minor, protein species L (molecular weight = 180 X 10(3)) was also found in virus preparations. The approximate number of protein molecules per virion has been determined. Electron microscopy of purified La Crosse virus indicated that the virus particle (mean diameter, 91 nm) is enveloped and possesses irregular surface projections (length, 10 nm).

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The polypepetides of California encephalitis virus (BFS-283) were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Four polypeptides were detected in virions grown in both BHK-21 and LLC-MK2 cell cultures with molecular weights of 17,500. 30,000, 38,000, and 82,000 (VP-1, VP-2, VP-3, and VP-4, respectively). Viral proteins 2, 3, and 4 were glycoproteins and appeared to be associated with the envelope of the virus. Treatment of virions (rho=1.18 g/cm3) with then non-ionic detergent, NP-40, allowed detection of a RNA-rich fraction (rho=1.26/cm3) with contained the smallest polypeptides (VP-1).

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