A comparison of picornavirus internal ribosome entry site (IRES) secondary structures revealed the existence of conserved motifs located on loops. We have carried out a mutational analysis to test their requirement for IRES-driven translation. The GUAA sequence, located in the aphthovirus 3A loop, did not tolerate substitutions that disrupt the GNRA motif. Interestingly, this motif was found at...

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) affects cloven-footed animals. It is caused by seven species ("types") of Foot and Mouth virus (FMDV) in the genus aphthovirus, family Picornaviridae (). FMDV is a single-stranded RNA virus, with a protein coat consisting of four capsid proteins enumerated as VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4 (Garland and Donaldson 1990).

The leader (L) peptide is located in the amino-terminal part of the polyprotein of members of the Cardiovirus (which includes Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus) and Aphthovirus genera of picornaviruses. Although the function of L is unknown, strain DA of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus with a mutation of L produces a cell-specific restricted infection. We now report that the DA ...

Analysis of aphthovirus A12, strain 119ab, grown in the presence of inorganic 32P revealed that two of the major viral polypeptides, VP4 and trypsin-sensitive protein VP3, were highly phosphorylated. The other major polypeptides, VP1 and VP2, were also phosphorylated but to a much lesser extent. Polypeptides VP0 and P56, of which there are approximately one of two copies per aphthovirion, were ...

Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is closely related to foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), belonging to the genus Aphthovirus of the Picornaviridae. How picornaviruses introduce their RNA genome into the cytoplasm of the host cell to initiate replication is unclear since they have no lipid envelope to facilitate fusion with cellular membranes. It has been thought that the dissociation of the FMD...

Creation of the Biochemistry Department at the Pirbright Institute in 1954 coincided with the expansion of molecular biology. Research concen­ trated on the detailed structure of the aphthovirus genome and capsid pro­ teins, particularly VP1. Another line of research was the amino acid sequence which elicits the formation of neutralizing antibody. New knowledge of the structure of the virus is ...

A severe outbreak of infection with type O, aphthovirus occurred in the Ramot Yissakhar nature reserve (Israel) in April 1985, resulting in the death of about half of a population of some 3,300 mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella). A smaller outbreak occurred in the southern Golan nature reserve among about 6,500 gazelles. Both outbreaks were controlled by shooting gazelles in a buffer zone arou...

The presence of a leader peptide in picornaviruses is restricted to the Cardiovirus and Aphthovirus genera. However, the leader peptides of these two genera are structurally and functionally unrelated. The aphthovirus leader is a protease involved in viral polyprotein processing and host cell translation shutoff. The function of the cardiovirus leader peptide is still unknown. To gain an insigh...