Evaluation of the molecular basis of pathogenicity of the variant Newcastle disease viruses termed ?pigeon PMV-1 viruses?

Abstract

The amino acid sequence at the F2/F1 cleavage site was determined for 15 strains of the so-called pigeon PMV-1 (PPMV-1) variant of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) which showed close antigenic identity, determined by their reactions with a panel of 28 monoclonal antibodies, but considerable variation in their pathogenicity for chickens. Thirteen of the isolates possessed the motif 112G-R-Q-K-R-F117. This motif was seen for one virus which had initially low pathogenicity and remained unaltered when virulence of the virus for chickens was increased by bird to bird passage. The two other viruses had the sequence 112R-R-Q-K-R-F117 at the cleavage site which is more typical of virulent viruses, however, pathogenicity index tests indicated that these isolates were of moderate and low pathogenicity. The nucleotide sequence coding for the HN/HN0 extension region was determined for two of the PPMV-1 isolates. In both cases a stop codon was present indicating that the product for these viruses would be HN571. We conclude that the wide variation in pathogenicity of the variant PPMV-1 for chickens is not related to variation in the amino acid motif at the F2/F1 cleavage site nor due to production of HN0 which may also influence pathogenicity. The high virulence of some of the viruses examined confirms that a double pair of basic amino acids in the region of the F2/F1 cleavage site is not necessary for the full expression of virulence.

Differentiation of virulent and non‐virulent strains of Newcastle disease virus within 24 hours by polymerase chain reaction

“…Our isolates were all characterized by MoAbs as belonging to a new antigenic group (Alexander et al, 1995). The nucleotide sequences reported for NDV isolated from pigeons and termed 'pigeon PMV-1 viruses' and from waterfowl (Collins et al, 1993(Collins et al, , 1994(Collins et al, , 1996Oberdorfer & Werner, 1995;Stauber et al, 1995), indicate that the primers used in our study will not permit the differentiation of these viruses as being virulent or non-virulent. This was confirmed initially by experiments with some Dutch pigeon PMV1 isolates (data not shown).…”

“…Nucleotide sequencing of the F gene made it clear that this variable cleavability is caused by different amino acid compositions at the cleavage site (Glickman et al, 1988;Toyoda et al, 1987). Several papers have been published about differentiation of NDV strains using RT-PCR, in combination with restriction-enzyme analysis (Collins et al, 1993(Collins et al, , 1994Jestin & Cherbonnel, 1992;Jestin et al, 1994;Marin et al, 1996;Oberdorfer & Werner, 1995;Seal et al, 1995;Stauber et al, 1995). Viruses could also be differentiated by using an oligonucleotide probe, representing the sequence of virulent NDV strains at the cleavage site of the F protein.…”

Characterization of avian paramyxovirus type 1 strains isolated in Germany during 1992 to 1996

“…Although in keeping with results obtained in other studies, the low ICPI values recorded for some isolates is surprising since these viruses can be shown to have multiple basic amino acids at the F0 cleavage site. Collins et al (1994) reported amino acid motifs of 112 G-R-Q-K-R-F 117 or 112 R-R-Q-K-R-F 117 at the F0 cleavage site of PPMV-1 isolates, but the differences in sequence did not correlate with differences in virulence for chickens. In addition the new motif 112 R-R-K-K-R-F 117 was determined in the present study for PPMV-1 isolates of both high and low virulence for chickens in ICPI tests.…”

“…In addition the new motif 112 R-R-K-K-R-F 117 was determined in the present study for PPMV-1 isolates of both high and low virulence for chickens in ICPI tests. There appears to be some other property of the PPMV-1 viruses which in¯uences virulence, although to date studies have not been able to identify it (Collins et al 1994(Collins et al , 1996.…”

Seroprevalence of Paramyxoviruses in Synanthropic and Semi–Free-Range Birds

“…Thus there appears to be the requirement of at least one pair of basic amino acids at residues 116 and 115 plus a phenylalanine at residue 117 and a basic amino acid (R) at 113 if the virus is to show virulence for chickens. However, some PPMV-1 may have virulent cleavage sites with low ICPI values (Collins et al, 1994). This phenomena has been associated not with the fusion protein (Dortmans et al, 2009), but with the replication complex consisting of the nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein and polymerase (Dortmans et al, 2010).…”