The full-length nucleotide sequences of the virulent Trinidad donkey strain of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and its attenuated vaccine derivative, strain TC-83

Nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNA clones covering the entire genomes of Trinidad donkey (TRD) Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus and its vaccine derivative, TC-83, has revealed 11 differences between the genomes of TC-83 virus and its parent. One nucleotide substitution and a single nucleotide deletion occurred in the 5′- and 3′- noncoding regions of the TC-83 genome, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of the nonstructural polypeptides of the two viruses differed only in a conservative Ser (TRD) to Thr (TC-83) substitution in nonstructural protein (nsP) three at amino acid position 260. The two silent mutations (one each in El and E2), one amino acid substitution in the El glycoprotein, and five substitutions in the E2 envelope glycoprotein of TC-83 virus were reported previously (B. J. B. Johnson, R. M. Kinney, C. L. Kost, and D. W. Trent, 1986, J. Gen. Viral. 67, 1951–1960). The genome of TRD virus was 11,444 nucleotides long with a 5′-noncoding region of 44 nucleotides. The carboxyl terminal portion of VEE nsP3 contained two peptide segments (7 and 34 amino acids long) that were repeated with high fidelity. The open reading frame of the nonstructural polyprotein was interrupted by an in-frame opal termination codon between nsP3 and nsP4, as has been reported for Sindbis, Ross River, and Middelburg viruses. The deduced amino acid sequences of the VEE TRD nsP1, nsP2, nsP3, and nsP4 polypeptides showed 60–66%, 57–58%, 35–44%, and 73-71% identity with the aligned sequences of the cognate polypeptides of Sindbis and Semliki Forest viruses, respectively. The lack of homology in the nsP3 of the viruses is due to sequence variation in the carboxyl terminal half of this polypeptide.