Deletion analysis of two tandemly arranged virulence genes in myxoma virus, M11L and myxoma growth factor

Abstract

Myxoma virus (MYX) is a leporipoxvirus of rabbits that induces a lethal syndrome characterized by disseminated tumorlike lesions, generalized immunosuppression, and secondary gram-negative bacterial infection. A MYX deletion mutant (vMYX-GF-AM11L) was constructed to remove the entire myxoma growth factor (MGF) coding sequence and that for the C-terminal five amino acids of the partially overlapping upstream gene, M1lL. Unexpectedly, this deletion completely abrogates the capacity of MYX to cause the characteri…