Award details

IAH Fellowship: Using Reverse Genetics to Investigate the Basis of Virulence and Host Range Restriction of Rotavirus

Reference	BBS/E/I/00001700
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Peter Mertens
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	758,178
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	19/03/2012
End date	18/03/2017
Duration	59 months

Abstract

Rotaviruses are one genus in the Reoviridae family of segmented double stranded (ds) RNA viruses Worldwide, rotaviruses are the major cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in the young of a wide range of mammals including the economically important livestock animals and humans. The acute dehydrating diarrhoea and its associated morbidity is a major cause of economic loss to the agricultural industry in livestock animals including cattle and swine, through reduced productivity. The molecular investigation of rotavirus and many other members of the Reoviridae have been hampered for over 20 years by the lack of a reverse genetics system with which to introduce specific desired mutations into the viral genome. Recently we have developed a strategy and experimental protocols which addressed this road block for the related Orbivirus genus of midge-transmitted viruses. The strategy exploits a feature believed to be common to the replication cycle of all members of the Reoviridae; initiation of the replication cycle entirely by the mRNA transcripts synthesised by the infecting particle. The transfection of permissive cells with these mRNA transcripts initiates the replication cycle and the breakthrough offered by this approach is that when these transcripts are generated from cDNA clones the system can be manipulated to make any viable variant .

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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