关键词: 狂犬病病毒, 核蛋白, 序列分析

Abstract:

Objective The nucleoprotein structural gene of the Rabies virus NB0901 strain isolated in Ningbo city in 2009 was amplified and sequenced by RT-PCR to get an insight into the epidemiological characteristics of rabies in this area. Methods The N gene sequence of the NB0901 strain was obtained using RT-PCR and sequence analysis. The homology of the gene with vaccine strains, 3aG and CNT-1, was analyzed at the nucleotide and amino acid level, respectively, followed by phylogenetic analysis. Results The homology between the NB0901 strain and the vaccine strains ranged from 86.6%-90.1% to 95.5%-98.8%, respectively, at the level of nucleotide and amino acids. By comparison with the vaccine strains, mutations were found at NⅠ and NⅡ antigen epitopes of the NB0901 strain. Epitopes of the T helper cells were identical between the NB0901 strains and CNT-1 strains, whereas those in 3aG had remarkably mutated, suggesting that the NB0901 strain belonged to subtype A of groupⅠof Rabies virus. Conclusion Though NB0901 and the current vaccine strains belonged to the same group, this strain was partly different from the latter. Based on the analysis at the amino acid level, CNT-1 strains would be more effective in protecting infection of this strain than 3aG strains.

Key words: Rabies virus, Nucleoprotein, Sequence analysis