NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE M-GENOMIC SEGMENT OF EL-MORO-CANYON-HANTAVIRUS - ANTIGENIC DISTINCTION FROM 4 CORNERS HANTAVIRUS

Fl Moro Canyon hantavirus (ELMC, previously known as HMV-1) is associa ted with the western harvest mouse Reithrodontomys megalotis. The inte rpretation that ELMC is a novel hantavirus was based upon comparisons of the nucleotide sequence of the S genomic segment with those of othe r hantaviruses. We now show that the ELMC M genome, like the S genome, is genetically similar to but distinct from that of Four Corners hant avirus (FC). The ELMC M genome is 3801 nt in length and encodes a glyc oprotein precursor of 1139 amino acids. The G1 and G2 genes are 71 and 73.1% identical to those of FC and the corresponding glycoproteins ar e 73.5 and 82.3% identical. A portion of the G1 glycoprotein of ELMC t hat is homologous to an important linear epitope of FC differs from th e FC epitope by 10 of 31 residues. That domain and flanking sequences were expressed in Escherichia coil. G1 antibodies from 3 of 19 FC-infe cted patients showed cross-reactivity with ELMC by Western blot assay. The portion of the ELMC G1 antigen recognized by those antibodies is the region of homology to the FC epitope. These data support our previ ous interpretation that ELMC is distinct from FC and other hantaviruse s. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.