Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate

African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal disease of domestic pigs that is currently challenging swine production in large areas of Eurasia. The causative agent, ASF virus (ASFV), is a large, double-stranded and structurally complex virus. The ASFV genome encodes for more than 160 proteins; however, the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina, Lauro Velazquez-Salinas, Alyssa Valladares, Ediane Silva, Leeanna Burton, Douglas P. Gladue, Manuel V. Borca
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Viruses
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/12/1911
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846102352056025088
author Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina
Lauro Velazquez-Salinas
Alyssa Valladares
Ediane Silva
Leeanna Burton
Douglas P. Gladue
Manuel V. Borca
author_facet Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina
Lauro Velazquez-Salinas
Alyssa Valladares
Ediane Silva
Leeanna Burton
Douglas P. Gladue
Manuel V. Borca
author_sort Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina
collection DOAJ
description African swine fever (ASF) is a lethal disease of domestic pigs that is currently challenging swine production in large areas of Eurasia. The causative agent, ASF virus (ASFV), is a large, double-stranded and structurally complex virus. The ASFV genome encodes for more than 160 proteins; however, the functions of most of these proteins are still in the process of being characterized. The ASF gene <i>R298L</i>, which has previously been characterized as able to encode a functional serine protein kinase, is expressed late in the virus infection cycle and may be part of the virus particle. There is no description of the importance of the <i>R298L</i> gene in basic virus functions such as replication or virulence in the natural host. Based on its evolution, it is proposed that there are four different phenotypes of <i>R298L</i> of ASFV in nature, which may have potential implications for <i>R298L</i> functionality. We report here that a recombinant virus lacking the <i>R298L</i> gene in the Georgia 2010 isolate, ASFV-G-∆R298L, does not exhibit significant changes in its replication in primary cultures of swine macrophages. In addition, when experimentally inoculated in pigs, ASFV-G-∆R298L induced a fatal form of the disease similar to that caused by the parental virulent ASFV-G. Therefore, deletion of <i>R298L</i> does not significantly affect virus replication and virulence in domestic pigs of the ASFV Georgia 2010 isolate.
format Article
id doaj-art-63bec5bfeb1b4b7abbd95a55db93f60b
institution Kabale University
issn 1999-4915
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Viruses
spelling doaj-art-63bec5bfeb1b4b7abbd95a55db93f60b2024-12-27T14:59:13ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152024-12-011612191110.3390/v16121911Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 IsolateElizabeth Ramirez-Medina0Lauro Velazquez-Salinas1Alyssa Valladares2Ediane Silva3Leeanna Burton4Douglas P. Gladue5Manuel V. Borca6Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAForeign Animal Disease Research Unit, Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 848, Greenport, NY 11944, USAAfrican swine fever (ASF) is a lethal disease of domestic pigs that is currently challenging swine production in large areas of Eurasia. The causative agent, ASF virus (ASFV), is a large, double-stranded and structurally complex virus. The ASFV genome encodes for more than 160 proteins; however, the functions of most of these proteins are still in the process of being characterized. The ASF gene <i>R298L</i>, which has previously been characterized as able to encode a functional serine protein kinase, is expressed late in the virus infection cycle and may be part of the virus particle. There is no description of the importance of the <i>R298L</i> gene in basic virus functions such as replication or virulence in the natural host. Based on its evolution, it is proposed that there are four different phenotypes of <i>R298L</i> of ASFV in nature, which may have potential implications for <i>R298L</i> functionality. We report here that a recombinant virus lacking the <i>R298L</i> gene in the Georgia 2010 isolate, ASFV-G-∆R298L, does not exhibit significant changes in its replication in primary cultures of swine macrophages. In addition, when experimentally inoculated in pigs, ASFV-G-∆R298L induced a fatal form of the disease similar to that caused by the parental virulent ASFV-G. Therefore, deletion of <i>R298L</i> does not significantly affect virus replication and virulence in domestic pigs of the ASFV Georgia 2010 isolate.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/12/1911ASFVASFAfrican swine fever virusrecombinant virusASFV virulenceASFV <i>R298L</i> gene
spellingShingle Elizabeth Ramirez-Medina
Lauro Velazquez-Salinas
Alyssa Valladares
Ediane Silva
Leeanna Burton
Douglas P. Gladue
Manuel V. Borca
Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
Viruses
ASFV
ASF
African swine fever virus
recombinant virus
ASFV virulence
ASFV <i>R298L</i> gene
title Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
title_full Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
title_fullStr Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
title_short Assessment of the Effect of Deleting the African Swine Fever Virus Gene <i>R298L</i> on Virus Replication and Virulence of the Georgia2010 Isolate
title_sort assessment of the effect of deleting the african swine fever virus gene i r298l i on virus replication and virulence of the georgia2010 isolate
topic ASFV
ASF
African swine fever virus
recombinant virus
ASFV virulence
ASFV <i>R298L</i> gene
url https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/12/1911
work_keys_str_mv AT elizabethramirezmedina assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT laurovelazquezsalinas assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT alyssavalladares assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT edianesilva assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT leeannaburton assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT douglaspgladue assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate
AT manuelvborca assessmentoftheeffectofdeletingtheafricanswinefevervirusgeneir298lionvirusreplicationandvirulenceofthegeorgia2010isolate