This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.The Caliciviridae family consists of 4 genera (Norovirus, Sapovirus, Vesivirus, and Lagovirus) representing important human and animal pathogens that cause a wide variety of diseases in their respective hosts. We recently reported the presence of specific antibodies to human noro- and sapoviruses in rhesus macaques of the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC), indicating calicivirus infections (CVs) in colony animals. RT-PCR screening of stool samples collected from TNPRC animals lead to the identification of a novel CV, the Tulane virus (TV). Here we report the complete genomic sequence (6,714 bp) of the TV which has been confirmed by the recovery of infectious virus from an in vitro transcribed full length genomic RNA. The TV genome revealed 3 major open reading frames (ORFs) with conserved amino acid sequence motifs that are characteristic to all known CVs, including GXXGXGKT (NTPase), EYXEX (Vpg), GDCG (3C-protease), GLPSG and YGDD (RdRp) within ORF1. Phylogenetic trees constructed for the NTPase, 3C-protease, RdRp, VP1 and VP2 consistently placed the TV on a branch rooted together with Norovirus, but with distances equal to those between the other genera. The TV was also adapted to grow in Rhesus monkey kidney cells (LLC-MK2) where it caused typical cytopathic effect (CPE), and could be neutralized by sera from rhesus monkeys bearing the virus. The cell culture adapted TV exhibits typical CV morphology with a diameter of 35.8+/-1.6 nm and have a buoyant density of 1.3722+/-0.014 g/mL. According to these physicochemical and genetic characteristics, TV represents a new CV genus with a proposed name 'Recovirus' (Rhesus enteric CV). Although the pathogenic properties of TV remain to be elucidated, the likelihood of TV causing intestinal infection and the availability of a tissue culture and a reverse genetics system makes this virus an attractive model for studying CVs, and as a surrogate to human CVs that remain difficult to cultivate in vitro.
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