Rescue of Akabane virus (family Bunyaviridae) entirely from cloned cDNAs by using RNA polymerase I.

Reverse-genetic systems are often used to study different aspects of the viral life cycle. To date, three rescue systems have been developed for the family Bunyaviridae. These systems use T7 RNA polymerase, which is generally used in rescue systems for Mononegavirales. In the present study, we describe a rescue system for Akabane virus (family Bunyaviridae) that uses cDNAs and RNA polymerase I instead of T7 RNA polymerase. The utility of this system was demonstrated by the generation of a mutant with a deletion of the non-structural protein (NSs) on the S RNA segment. These results offer a new option for bunyavirus rescue.