POLYMORPHISM OF RABIES VIRUSES WITHIN THE PHOSPHOPROTEIN AND MATRIX PROTEIN GENES

Although the rabies virus P and M genes, encoding the viral phosphopro tein and matrix protein respectively, have been characterised for a fe w laboratory-adapted strains, there is essentially no information on t he variability of these two genes in wild-type rabies viruses. In this study rabies viruses, responsible for epizootics in different wildlif e species in three geographically distinct areas of North America, hav e been characterised at the P and M gene loci. These data reveal that the M gene and its encoded product are much more conserved than the P gene and its encoded phosphoprotein. The latter product harbors two va riable domains which contribute to different hydropathy profiles for t his protein for each of the rabies virus strains studied. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences generated in this study, togethe r with data generated previously on the N and G genes of these rabies virus strains, indicated that similar evolutionary relationships are p redicted regardless of the portion of the viral genome targeted.