Determinants of coronavirus MHV pathogenesis are localized to 3' portions of the genome as determined by ribonucleic acid-ribonucleic acid recombination.

Overview

Recombinant viruses derived from coronaviruses mouse hepatitis virus strains JHM and A59, were used to map biologic properties of the virus to viral genes. The 3' portion (about 25%) of the viral genome, including the genes coding for all of the structural proteins, controls biologic properties such as organ tropism of the virus, pattern of the virus-induced central nervous system pathology in mice, plaque morphology, and virus yield in tissue culture.