Echoviruses 1 and 8 are closely related genetically, and bind to similar determinants within the VLA-2 I domain

Echoviruses (EV) 1 and 8 were originally considered to be distinct serotype s, but more recently have been considered strains of the same virus. In exp eriments with chimeric recombinant fusion proteins, both viruses bound to t he I domain of the integrin VLA-2, and both required the same receptor resi dues for attachment. A full-length, infectious cDNA clone encoding EV1 was obtained; its nucleotide sequence was determined, as were the sequences enc oding the EV8 capsid. EV1 and 8 show 94% amino acid identity within the cap sid region and are more similar to each other than to any other human picor navirus. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.