Mitzi M. Sereno

Genes of human (strain Wa) and bovine (strain UK) rotaviruses that code for neutralization and subgroup antigens.

Abstract Sixteen rotaviral reassortants recovered from mixed infection with a ts mutant of bovine rotavirus (UK strain) and noncultivatable or cultivatable human rotavirus (Wa strain) were genotyped by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Analysis of the reassortants showed that the ninth RNA gene segment regularly segregated with the neutralization specificity and the sixth RNA gene segment regularly segregated with the subgroup antigenic specificity detected by immune adherence hemagglutination assay. This indicates that the ninth RNA segment codes for the protein that induces and reacts with neutralizing antibodies while the sixth RNA segment codes for the subgroup antigen. In addition, it appears that the fourth and/or fifth RNA segments may be responsible for restriction of growth of the noncultivatable human rotavirus in cell culture.

Comparison of human and animal rotavirus strains by gel electrophoresis of viral RNA.

Abstract Many rotavirus strains have been detected but few have been grown in vitro and this has hampered the development of serologic tests and antigenic comparison of strains obtained from the same or different host species. Because of this limitation of growth in vitro a different approach for distinguishing rotaviruses was undertaken. The rotavirus genome could be separated into 11 discrete RNA segments by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Differences in RNA migration pattern were observed among human strains as well as between human and animal strains; the number of interspecies differences was greater than the number of intraspecies differences. Three distinct patterns were observed among the eight human rotaviruses obtained from each of four successive annual rotavirus epidemics in the Washington, D.C. area. Each of four animal rotaviruses also had distinct patterns which differed from the human patterns in the mobility of from four to seven RNA segments.