Sneider J M, Kinney R M, Tsuchiya K R, Trent D W
Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522-2087.
J Gen Virol. 1993 Mar;74 ( Pt 3):519-23. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-74-3-519.
Enzootic strains of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus occur in the United States (Florida), Mexico, Central America and South America. Epizootic VEE first occurred in North and Central America in a widespread outbreak between 1969 and 1972. To investigate the likelihood that this epizootic VEE virus, identified as VEE antigenic subtype I-AB, evolved from enzootic viruses extant in the region, we cloned and sequenced the 26S mRNA region of the genomes of the Florida VEE subtype II virus, strain Everglades Fe3-7c, and the Middle American subtype I-E virus, strain Mena II. This region of the genome encodes the viral structural proteins. The sequences of the 26S mRNA regions of the Everglades and Mena virus genomes differed from that of the reference epizootic VEE subtype I-AB virus, Trinidad donkey strain, by 453 and 887 nucleotides and by 66 and 131 amino acids, respectively. These data confirm previous reports demonstrating significant antigenic and genetic distance between VEE I-AB virus and viruses of subtypes I-E and II. It is unlikely that the epizootic VEE I-AB virus responsible for the 1969 outbreak originated from mutation of enzootic VEE viruses in North or Middle America.
委内瑞拉马脑炎（VEE）病毒的地方流行毒株出现在美国（佛罗里达州）、墨西哥、中美洲和南美洲。流行性VEE于1969年至1972年间在北美洲和中美洲首次大规模爆发。为了研究这种被鉴定为VEE抗原亚型I-AB的流行性VEE病毒是否由该地区现存的地方流行病毒进化而来，我们克隆并测序了佛罗里达VEE II型病毒Everglades Fe3-7c株和中美洲I-E型病毒Mena II株基因组的26S mRNA区域。基因组的这一区域编码病毒结构蛋白。Everglades和Mena病毒基因组的26S mRNA区域序列与参考流行性VEE I-AB病毒特立尼达驴株的序列分别相差453和887个核苷酸，以及66和131个氨基酸。这些数据证实了先前的报告，即VEE I-AB病毒与I-E和II亚型病毒之间存在显著的抗原和遗传距离。导致1969年疫情爆发的流行性VEE I-AB病毒不太可能起源于北美洲或中美洲地方流行VEE病毒的突变。
