NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE PROTEIN-E GENE OF THE TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS-VIRUS STRAIN 595 ISOLATED IN SLOVAKIA

Tick-borne encephalitis (TEE) virus, strain 595 was isolated from Ixod es ricinus ticks in southern Slovakia. A part of the protein E gene wa s sequenced and compared with the prototype strain Neudorfl. Seventeen silent mutations and two amino acid changes (Ile --> Val, residue 167 ; Asn --> Thr, residue 366) were found. The nucleotide homology in the sequenced part of protein E gene of the strain 595 and the prototype strain Neudorfl is 98.6%. These findings indicate that the strain 595 is closely related to the strain Neudorfl.