COMPLETE GENETIC-CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF ISOLATION OF SIN-NOMBRE-VIRUS

This study reports completion of the genetic characterization of the e ntire genome of Sin Nombre (SN) virus (NMH10) detected in autopsy tiss ues from a patient who died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Th e large (L) genome segment was found to be 6,562 nucleotides in length and encoded a putative L polymerase that was 2,153 amino acids in len gth. No evidence of segment reassortment with other well-characterized hantaviruses was obtained, The sequence of the entire S, M, and L gen ome segments of SN virus (strain NMR11) isolated from a mouse (trapped in the residence of the patient infected with SN virus [NMH10]) by pa ssage two times in Peromyscus maniculatus and then by five passages in E6 Vero cells was determined and compared with that of the virus dete cted in autopsy tissues, Only 16 nucleotide differences were detected between the virus genomes, and none of these resulted in virus protein amino acid substitutions, Determination of the exact 5'- and 3'-termi nal sequences of all genome segments of SN virus and representatives o f other serologic groups in the Hantavirus genus, family Bunyaviridae, showed the existence of conserved nucleotide domains that may be invo lved in important regulatory mechanisms, such as RNA encapsidation, po lymerase binding, and control of transcription and replication.