Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1996 Apr 16;93(8):3602–3607. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.8.3602

The virion glycoproteins of Ebola viruses are encoded in two reading frames and are expressed through transcriptional editing.

A Sanchez 1, S G Trappier 1, B W Mahy 1, C J Peters 1, S T Nichol 1
PMCID: PMC39657  PMID: 8622982

Abstract

In late 1994 and early 1995, Ebola (EBO) virus dramatically reemerged in Africa, causing human disease in the Ivory Coast and Zaire. Analysis of the entire glycoprotein genes of these viruses and those of other EBO virus subtypes has shown that the virion glycoprotein (130 kDa) is encoded in two reading frames, which are linked by transcriptional editing. This editing results in the addition of an extra nontemplated adenosine within a run of seven adenosines near the middle of the coding region. The primary gene product is a smaller (50-70 kDa), nonstructural, secreted glycoprotein, which is produced in large amounts and has an unknown function. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that EBO virus subtypes are genetically diverse and that the recent Ivory Coast isolate represents a new (fourth) subtype of EBO virus. In contrast, the EBO virus isolate from the 1995 outbreak in Kikwit, Zaire, is virtually identical to the virus that caused a similar epidemic in Yambuku, Zaire, almost 20 years earlier. This genetic stability may indicate that EBO viruses have coevolved with their natural reservoirs and do not change appreciably in the wild.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

3604Fig. 2
on p.3604
3605Fig. 3
on p.3605

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brierley I. Ribosomal frameshifting viral RNAs. J Gen Virol. 1995 Aug;76(Pt 8):1885–1892. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-76-8-1885. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chambers P., Pringle C. R., Easton A. J. Heptad repeat sequences are located adjacent to hydrophobic regions in several types of virus fusion glycoproteins. J Gen Virol. 1990 Dec;71(Pt 12):3075–3080. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-71-12-3075. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Feldmann H., Klenk H. D., Sanchez A. Molecular biology and evolution of filoviruses. Arch Virol Suppl. 1993;7:81–100. doi: 10.1007/978-3-7091-9300-6_8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Feldmann H., Nichol S. T., Klenk H. D., Peters C. J., Sanchez A. Characterization of filoviruses based on differences in structure and antigenicity of the virion glycoprotein. Virology. 1994 Mar;199(2):469–473. doi: 10.1006/viro.1994.1147. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gallant J., Lindsley D. Ribosome frameshifting at hungry codons: sequence rules, directional specificity and possible relationship to mobile element behaviour. Biochem Soc Trans. 1993 Nov;21(4):817–821. doi: 10.1042/bst0210817. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Geyer H., Will C., Feldmann H., Klenk H. D., Geyer R. Carbohydrate structure of Marburg virus glycoprotein. Glycobiology. 1992 Aug;2(4):299–312. doi: 10.1093/glycob/2.4.299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gubler U., Hoffman B. J. A simple and very efficient method for generating cDNA libraries. Gene. 1983 Nov;25(2-3):263–269. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(83)90230-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jahrling P. B., Geisbert T. W., Dalgard D. W., Johnson E. D., Ksiazek T. G., Hall W. C., Peters C. J. Preliminary report: isolation of Ebola virus from monkeys imported to USA. Lancet. 1990 Mar 3;335(8688):502–505. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)90737-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Le Guenno B., Formenty P., Formentry P., Wyers M., Gounon P., Walker F., Boesch C. Isolation and partial characterisation of a new strain of Ebola virus. Lancet. 1995 May 20;345(8960):1271–1274. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)90925-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McCormick J. B., Bauer S. P., Elliott L. H., Webb P. A., Johnson K. M. Biologic differences between strains of Ebola virus from Zaire and Sudan. J Infect Dis. 1983 Feb;147(2):264–267. doi: 10.1093/infdis/147.2.264. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sanchez A., Frey T. K. Vaccinia-vectored expression of the rubella virus structural proteins and characterization of the E1 and E2 glycosidic linkages. Virology. 1991 Aug;183(2):636–646. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(91)90993-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sanchez A., Kiley M. P., Holloway B. P., Auperin D. D. Sequence analysis of the Ebola virus genome: organization, genetic elements, and comparison with the genome of Marburg virus. Virus Res. 1993 Sep;29(3):215–240. doi: 10.1016/0168-1702(93)90063-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sanchez A., Kiley M. P., Holloway B. P., McCormick J. B., Auperin D. D. The nucleoprotein gene of Ebola virus: cloning, sequencing, and in vitro expression. Virology. 1989 May;170(1):81–91. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(89)90354-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sanchez A., Kiley M. P. Identification and analysis of Ebola virus messenger RNA. Virology. 1987 Apr;157(2):414–420. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(87)90283-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sanchez A., Ksiazek T. G., Rollin P. E., Peters C. J., Nichol S. T., Khan A. S., Mahy B. W. Reemergence of Ebola virus in Africa. Emerg Infect Dis. 1995 Jul-Sep;1(3):96–97. doi: 10.3201/eid0103.950307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sanchez A., Pifat D. Y., Kenyon R. H., Peters C. J., McCormick J. B., Kiley M. P. Junin virus monoclonal antibodies: characterization and cross-reactivity with other arenaviruses. J Gen Virol. 1989 May;70(Pt 5):1125–1132. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-70-5-1125. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Volchkov V. E., Blinov V. M., Netesov S. V. The envelope glycoprotein of Ebola virus contains an immunosuppressive-like domain similar to oncogenic retroviruses. FEBS Lett. 1992 Jul 6;305(3):181–184. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(92)80662-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Will C., Mühlberger E., Linder D., Slenczka W., Klenk H. D., Feldmann H. Marburg virus gene 4 encodes the virion membrane protein, a type I transmembrane glycoprotein. J Virol. 1993 Mar;67(3):1203–1210. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.3.1203-1210.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES