Polymorphisms and the Differential Antiviral Activity of the Chicken Mx Gene
- Jae-Hong Ko1,
- Hee-Kyung Jin1,
- Atsushi Asano1,
- Ayato Takada2,
- Ai Ninomiya2,
- Hiroshi Kida2,
- Hironao Hokiyama3,
- Mutsuo Ohara3,
- Masaoki Tsuzuki4,
- Masahide Nishibori4,
- Makoto Mizutani5, and
- Tomomasa Watanabe1,6
- 1Laboratory of Experimental Animal Science and 2Laboratory of Microbiology, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060–0818, Japan; 3Hokkaido Livestock Experiment Station, Shintoku 081–0038, Japan; 4Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima 739–8528, Japan; 5Nippon Biological Science, Kobuchizawa 408–0041, Japan
Abstract
The nucleotide sequence of chicken Mx cDNA was reported earlier using the White Leghorn breed in Germany, but it showed no enhanced resistance to viruses. In this study, the nucleotide sequences of chicken Mx cDNA were determined in many breeds. A total of 25 nucleotide substitutions, of which 14 were deduced to cause amino acid exchanges, were detected, suggesting that the chicken Mxgene is very polymorphic. Transfected cell clones expressing chickenMx mRNA were established after the Mx cDNA was constructed with an expression vector and introduced into mouse 3T3 cells, and the Mx genes from some breeds were demonstrated to confer positive antiviral responses to influenza virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. On the basis of the comparison among the antiviral activities associated with many Mx variations, a specific amino acid substitution at position 631 (Ser to Asn) was considered to determine the antivirally positive or negative Mx gene. Thus, a single amino acid substitution influences the antiviral activity of Mx in domesticated chickens.
Footnotes
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↵6 Corresponding author.
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E-MAIL watanabe{at}anim.agr.hokudai.ac.jp; FAX 81–11–706–5106.
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Article and publication are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.210702. Article published online before print in March 2002.
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- Received August 15, 2001.
- Accepted January 22, 2002.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
