Differences in the Two-Dimension-Gel Electrophoresis Protein Patterns of the Lethal K and Benign B Variants of Encephalomyocarditis Virus

Abstract

Variants of encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) are indistinguishable by hyperimmune serum. In spite of their antigenic similarity, they produce different disease syndromes in susceptible strains of mice. To understand the basis for the diversity in pathogenicity, studies have been initiated to characterize each of the virus variants. In this study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to compare the proteins produced by the benign EMCV-B with those produced by lethal EMCV-K. The data show that (i) the replication cycle of each of the virus variants is characteristic of picornaviruses, (ii) the VP1 of EMCV-K is more basic than that of EMCV-B, and (iii) three proteins, one a major component of VP1, the other two with molecular weight of about 12,000, are present in EMCV-K but not in EMCV-B.