October 24 - 28, 2011
Building 10 & Natcher Conference Center
- General Schedule of Events
- Opening Plenary Session
- Concurrent Symposia Sessions
- Improving Workplace Dynamics
- FARE Award Ceremony
- Poster Sessions
- Special Exhibits on Resources for Intramural Research
- TSA Research Festival Exhibit Show
- Research Festival Committees
- Past Research Festivals
2011 program
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A novel approach for the rapid mutagenesis and directed evolution of the structural genes of West Nile virus
| Wednesday, October 26, 2011 — Poster Session IV | |||
|---|---|---|---|
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. |
Natcher Conference Center |
NIAID |
VIROL/MICRO-15 |
* FARE Award Winner
Authors
- T-Y Lin
- KA Dowd
- CJ Manhart
- S Nelson
- SS Whitehead
- TC Pierson
Abstract
Molecular clone technology has proven to be an extremely powerful tool for investigating the lifecycle of flaviviruses, their interactions with the host, and during vaccine development. However, the feasibility of employing existing strategies in large-scale mutagenesis efforts is limited by the technical challenges of manipulating the large and unstable molecular clone plasmids that encode these viruses. In this study, we describe a novel strategy that streamlines the production of infectious West Nile virus (WNV), enabling the introduction of mutations into the viral structural genes at an unprecedented scale. The innovative aspect of this approach is that it does not involve traditional cloning steps that are both time-consuming and require the propagation of potentially unstable constructs in bacteria. This system will enable new genetic approaches to study the structure, function, and immunogenicity of the structural proteins of flaviviruses.
