Increased pathogenicity of rabies virus due to modification of a non-coding region.

Sub-passaging of QS-05, a street rabies virus (RABV) isolate, in non-neuronal cells resulted in a virus with higher pathogenicity, QS-BHK-P7. Four full-length cDNA plasmids were constructed and the corresponding recombinant viruses were recovered: rQS-05, rQS-BHK-P7 and rQS05-2475G/rQS-BHK-P7-2475A (made by switching of intergenic P-M between these two backbones). rQS-BHK-P7-2475 A virus had eight instead of seven adenosines in its poly(A) sequence. Interestingly, mutant viruses with 6 or 8 adenosines infected more neuroblastoma cells than their parental ones. Mice that were infected intracerebrally and intramuscularly with rQS05-2475G and rQS-BHK-P7 exhibited highest mortality. However, mice infected with rQS-BHK-P7-2475AA had the shortest survival time. This study demonstrates that modifications in the non-coding region may play a role in determining the virulence of RABV.