A DETERMINANT FOR CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM PERSISTENCE LOCALIZED IN THECAPSID OF THEILERS MURINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRUS BY USING RECOMBINANT VIRUSES

The demyelinating process in Theiler's murine encephelomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection in mice requires virus persistence in the central ner vous system, Using recombinant TMEV assembled between the virulent GDV II and less virulent BeAn virus cDNAs, we now provide additional evide nce supporting the localization of a persistence determinant to the le ader P1 (capsid) sequences, Further, recombinant, viruses in which BeA n sequences progressively replaced those of GDVII within the capsid st arting at the leader NH2 terminus suggest that a conformational determ inant requiring homologous sequences in both the VP2 puff and VP1 loop regions, which are in close contact on the virion surface, might unde rlie persistence.