Rotavirus replication and virulence are strongly influenced by virus strain and host species. The rotavirus proteins VP3, VP4, VP7, NSP1, and NSP4 have all been implicated in strain and species restriction of replication; however, the mechanisms have not been fully determined. Simian (RRV) and bovine (UK) rotaviruses have distinctive replication capacities in mouse extraintestinal organs such as the biliary tract. Using reassortants between UK and RRV, we previously demonstrated that the differential replication of these viruses in mouse embryonic fibroblasts is determined by the respective NSP1 proteins, which differ substantially in their abilities to degrade interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and suppress the type I IFN response. In this study, we used an in vivo model of rotavirus infection of mouse gallbladder with UK ؋ RRV reassortants to study the genetic and mechanistic basis of systemic rotavirus replication. We found that the low-replication phenotype of UK in biliary tissues was conferred by UK VP4 and that the high-replication phenotype of RRV was conferred by RRV VP4 and NSP1. Viruses with RRV VP4 entered cultured mouse cholangiocytes more efficiently than did those with UK VP4. Reassortants with RRV VP4 and UK NSP1 genes induced high levels of expression of IRF3-dependent p54 in biliary tissues, and their replication was increased 3-fold in IFN-␣/ and -␥ receptor or STAT1 knockout (KO) mice compared to wild-type mice. Our data indicate that systemic rotavirus strain-specific replication in the murine biliary tract is determined by both viral entry mediated by VP4 and viral antagonism of the host innate immune response mediated by NSP1.Group A rotaviruses (RVs) are segmented double-stranded RNA viruses that replicate primarily in mature epithelial cells on the tips of small intestinal villi (7). Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe dehydrating diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide; these infections result in more than 600,000 deaths annually, mostly in developing countries, and over 2 million hospitalizations each year (20). Rotavirus infection is ubiquitous among mammals; however, virulent viral strains isolated from one animal species generally have a diminished replication capacity and diminished virulence in heterologous hosts. This phenomenon of rotavirus host range restriction was employed for the development of two rotavirus vaccines in which animal rotaviruses that are naturally attenuated in humans were used to produce the genetic backbone of human vaccines. The pentavalent rotavirus vaccine Rotateq (Merck), for example, is derived from a bovine rotavirus strain, WC, with incorporated human rotavirus genes that encode VP7 of serotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 and VP4 of serotype P1A to induce neutralizing antibody (Ab) responses to the most common human RV serotypes.The viral factors underlying rotavirus host range restriction are not fully understood but are likely to be multigenic. Early studies using reassortants between simian and bovine strains demonstrated that the ...