ISOLATION OF A GB VIRUS-RELATED GENOME FROM A CHIMPANZEE

Recently, two new flaviviruses, GB virus A (GBV-A) and GB virus B (GBV -B), were identified in the plasma of a tamarin infected with the hepa titis GB agent. A third virus, GB virus C (GBV-C), was subsequently id entified in humans. In the current study, representational difference analysis (RDA) was used to search for a new virus in the serum of a ch impanzee that developed acute resolving hepatitis following inoculatio n with a pool of chimpanzee plasma. The plasma pool originated from se rial passages of a human sample containing virus-like particles. Numer ous cDNA clones were obtained that exhibited 62-80% identity with GBV- C. With the exception of the extreme 5' and 3' ends, the complete vira l genome was sequenced, revealing a single large open reading frame en coding a 2833 amino acid polyprotein that contains two envelope protei ns, two proteases, a helicase, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Ph ylogenetic analysis of the new virus indicates that it is closely rela ted to GBV-C, yet still sufficiently divergent as to be placed in a se parate group, tentatively labeled GB virus C-troglodytes (GBV-C-tro). Numerous human samples were screened by reverse transcriptase-polymera se chain reaction (RT-PCR), but GBV-Ctro sequence was not detected. Ho wever, a second chimpanzee inoculated with the same plasma pool was sh own to develop a GBV-C-tro infection. Although isolated from an Old Wo rld primate with hepatitis, the primary host of GBV-C-tro and any asso ciation with disease remains to be determined. J. Med. Virol. 56:44-51 , 1998. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.