JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY, Mar. 2007, p. 2179–2186 Vol. 81, No.

5
0022-538X/07/$08.00⫹0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01819-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Recovery of Infectious Bluetongue Virus from RNA䌤

Mark Boyce and Polly Roy*
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
Received 21 August 2006/Accepted 22 November 2006

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an insect-vectored emerging pathogen of ruminants with the potential for
devastating economic impact on European agriculture. BTV and many other members of the Reoviridae have
remained stubbornly refractory to the development of methods for the rescue of infectious virus from cloned
nucleic acid (reverse genetics). Partially disassembled virus particles are transcriptionally active, synthesizing
viral transcripts in the cytoplasm of infected cells, in essence delivering viral nucleic acids in situ. With the goal
of generating a reverse-genetics system for BTV, we examined the possibility of recovering infectious BTV by
the transfection of BSR cells with BTV transcripts (single-stranded RNA [ssRNA]) synthesized in vitro using
BTV core particles. Following transfection, viral-protein synthesis was detected by immunoblotting, and
confocal examination of the cells showed a punctate cytoplasmic distribution of inclusion bodies similar to that
seen in infected cells. Viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) was isolated from ssRNA-transfected cells, dem-
onstrating that replication of the ssRNA had occurred. Additionally, infectious virus was present in the
medium of transfected cells, as demonstrated by the passage of infectivity in BSR cells. Infectivity was sensitive
to single-strand-specific RNase A, and cotransfection of genomic BTV dsRNA with transcribed ssRNA dem-
onstrated that the ssRNA species, rather than dsRNA, were the active components. We conclude that it is
possible to recover infectious BTV wholly from ssRNA, which suggests a means for establishing helper
virus-independent reverse-genetics systems for members of the Reoviridae.

The introduction of specific mutations into the cloned ge- capped message sense copies of each viral genome segment
nomes of many viruses and the study of the phenotype of the into the host cell cytoplasm (5, 20, 21). These transcripts have
recovered infectious virus (reverse genetics) has allowed more the dual roles of encoding the viral proteins and serving as
directed approaches to the study of their gene products and templates for the synthesis of the new viral dsRNA genome
genomes. Initially, viruses amenable to study by reverse genet- segments present in progeny virus particles. BTV replication
ics were those that have a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) ge- occurs concomitantly with the establishment of virus inclusion
nome that also functions as mRNA, such as bacteriophage Q␤ bodies in the cytoplasm, and the dsRNA genome of the virus
and poliovirus (11, 17). In recent years, RNA viruses with is never freely distributed in the cytosol (15). While such a strat-
genomes of opposite sense to their mRNA, such as measles egy minimizes the host interferon response, uniquely among
virus, influenza virus, and bunyaviruses, have been recovered RNA virus replication cycles, it obfuscates a simple genome 3
entirely from cDNA clones (1, 8, 9, 12). Despite these suc- replication intermediate 3 genome flow diagram and makes un-
cesses, however, a number of viruses have remained refractory certain the assumption that intervention is possible at any one
to similar techniques. point, as would be required for the recovery of infectious BTV
Bluetongue virus (BTV) is transmitted between ruminant from cloned copies of the genome. Indeed, the development of
hosts by several species of biting midges of the genus Culi- reverse genetics has been slow for viruses of the family Reoviridae;
coides, which determine its geographic range. BTV, endemic in Roner and Joklik reported the first helper virus-based system for
many tropical countries, is an emerging pathogen of ruminants the genus Orthoreovirus in 2001 (13). It was demonstrated that
in Europe, with the potential to have a severe economic impact transfection with viral ssRNA produced by virus cores, in combi-
on European agriculture (10). BTV belongs to the genus Or- nation with an in vitro-synthesized transcript of a cloned virus
bivirus of the family Reoviridae and has a segmented genome genome segment, led to the recovery of virus derived from the
consisting of 10 linear double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mole- input RNA. In this system, infection with the helper virus is
cules (19, 22). The segments are classified into three size class-
necessary to recover progeny virus derived from the viral ssRNA
es: large (L1 to L3), medium (M4 to M6), and small (S7 to
(14). More recently, a helper virus-based system for the genus
S10). The virus particle has a layered structure, the outer layer
Rotavirus was created when Komoto et al. showed that a viral
of which is lost before the remaining core particle enters the
genome segment could be recovered in infectious virus when it
cytoplasm of the host cell (5, 20, 21). The core particle is
was expressed using the recombinant vaccinia virus T7 RNA
transcriptionally active, synthesizing and extruding multiple
polymerase system in cells that were also infected with rotavirus
(3). To date, there are no reports of other genera in the Reoviridae
being manipulated by reverse genetics or of a demonstration that
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: London School of Hy- infectious virus can be recovered from RNA alone.
giene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St., London WC1E 7HT, United
Kingdom. Phone: 44 020-79272324. Fax: 44 020-79272839. E-mail:
As in other members of the family Reoviridae, the core
polly.roy@lshtm.ac.uk. particles of BTV synthesize and release capped ssRNA tran-
䌤
Published ahead of print on 6 December 2006. scripts into the cytoplasm of infected cells, using the genomic

2179
2180 BOYCE AND ROY J. VIROL.

dsRNA segments as templates. Apart from the production of mixed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Complexes were added to
viral ssRNA transcripts, the core particle itself has no known the monolayers and not removed.
Infectivity assay of BTV ssRNA or BTV cores. Ninety to 100% confluent BSR
role in infection. The extruded transcripts act both as mRNAs monolayers in six-well plates (2 ⫻ 106 cells) were transfected as described above.
for the synthesis of the viral proteins and as templates for the At 8 h posttransfection, the culture medium was replaced with a 6-ml overlay
synthesis of new dsRNA genome segments. In theory, both of consisting of minimal essential medium (Invitrogen), 2% fetal calf serum, 1.5%
these roles would be satisfied if the viral ssRNA was delivered (wt/vol) agarose type VII (Sigma). The assay mixtures were incubated at 35°C,
5% CO2 for 72 h to allow plaques to appear when BTV-1 ssRNA was used or
to the host cell cytoplasm by a route other than transcription 48 h when BTV-1 cores were used. For plaque picking, the monolayers were
from an infectious viral core. Here, we investigate the possi- stained with Neutral Red at 80 ␮g/ml for 8 h. For counting purposes, the assay
bility that bluetongue virus ssRNA could be infectious without mixtures were fixed with 10% formaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)
the use of a helper virus. Purified bluetongue virus type 1 (Oxoid) for 3 h and stained with crystal violet.
Indirect immunofluorescence. BSR cells were seeded on glass coverslips in
(BTV-1) cores were used to synthesize viral ssRNA in vitro
six-well plates and transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA or infected with BTV-1 at an
and then completely removed from the viral ssRNA. We report MOI of 1. Transfected or infected cells were washed once in PBS (Oxoid) and
that bluetongue virus ssRNA directs high levels of viral-protein fixed in 4% (wt/vol) paraformaldehyde in PBS. The cells were permeabilized in
synthesis in at least 50% of transfected cells and, furthermore, 1% (vol/vol) Tween 20 in PBS. Staining was performed using a rabbit polyclonal
antiserum raised to BTV10 NS2 (R658), followed by tetramethylrhodamine
is infectious in 1 in 10,000 transfected cells, leading to the
isothiocyanate-conjugated goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) (Sigma).
recovery of infectious virus. Nuclear staining was achieved by using Hoescht 33342 at 3.3 ␮g/ml in the
secondary-antibody solution. Digital images were recorded with an LSM510
microscope (Carl Zeiss Ltd., United Kingdom) using a 63⫻ oil objective. Images
MATERIALS AND METHODS were processed with the LSM image browser software (Carl Zeiss Ltd., United
Kingdom).
Cell lines and virus. BSR cells (a clone of BHK-21 cells) were cultured in
Immunoblot analysis of BSR cells transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA. Standard
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (Sigma) supplemented with 5% (vol/vol)
immunoblotting techniques were used with rabbit polyclonal antiserum R658
fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen).
raised against NS2 or mouse monoclonal antibody 2C3 raised against VP6.
BTV-1 stocks were generated by infecting BSR cells at a multiplicity of infec-
Proteins were visualized using alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit
tion (MOI) of 0.1 and harvesting the medium 3 to 4 days postinfection.
IgG (Sigma) or alkaline phosphatase-conjugated sheep anti-mouse IgG (Sigma),
Purification of bluetongue virus cores. BSR cultures were infected with BTV-1
respectively.
at an MOI of 0.02. Transcriptionally active BTV-1 cores were purified using a
Extraction of dsRNA from transfected BSR cells. Total RNA was extracted
modification of the methods of Mertens et al. (6) and Van Dijk and Huismans
from cells using Tri-Reagent (Sigma) according to the manufacturer’s instruc-
(18). Briefly, BTV-1-infected BSR cells were lysed at 64 h postinfection in chilled
tions. The RNA was precipitated with an equal volume of isopropanol and
100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.8, 50 mM NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 0.1% NP-40. Nuclei
dissolved in 30 ␮l distilled water. Samples were made 2 M for LiCl, using 8 M
were removed by centrifugation at 2,500 ⫻ g at 4°C for 5 min. ␣-Chymotrypsin
LiCl (Sigma), and incubated at 4°C for 16 h to precipitate the ssRNA. The
was added to 60 ␮g/ml, and the sample was incubated at 35°C for 1 h. The sample samples were microcentrifuged at 17,000 ⫻ g at 4°C for 15 min, and the super-
was made 0.2% (wt/vol) for N-lauroyl sarcosine (sodium salt) and incubated at natant containing dsRNA was precipitated with an equal volume of isopropanol.
25°C for 1 h. Ultracentrifugation on a sucrose cushion consisting of 40% (wt/vol) Samples were microcentrifuged at 17,000 ⫻ g at 4°C for 10 min, and the pellets
sucrose, 600 mM MgCl2, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, was carried out at 141,000 ⫻ were washed twice in 70% (vol/vol) ethanol before being dissolved in distilled
g and 20°C for 2 h. The pellet was resuspended in 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.5% water.
NP-40 and incubated at 4°C for 16 h. A second ultracentrifuge spin through a Nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. RNA samples were run on
sucrose cushion consisting of 40% (wt/vol) sucrose, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, at 9% polyacrylamide gels at 130 V in Tris-glycine buffer (pH 8.4). The gels were
141,000 ⫻ g and 20°C for 2 h was performed. The pellet was resuspended in 200 stained with ethidium bromide solution (0.5 ␮g/ml) for 30 min.
␮l 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0. Preparation of BSR cells for phase-contrast microscopy. Cells were washed
Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) once in PBS and fixed using 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min. The cells
analysis of purified BTV-1 cores. Proteins in purified cores were separated using were washed once in PBS, and phase-contrast images were recorded with a
10% polyacrylamide gels with the Laemmli buffer system (4). The gels were Nikon Eclipse TS100 microscope using an attached digital camera.
stained with Coomassie blue R250. RNase A digestion of bluetongue virus RNA or bluetongue virus cores. RNase
Synthesis of bluetongue virus ssRNA in vitro. Viral ssRNA was synthesized in A digests were carried out in 5-␮l reaction mixtures in OptiMEM I at 25°C for
vitro using reaction conditions similar to those described by Mertens and Payne 30 min. The digested material was immediately used to transfect BSR cells, as
(7). Briefly, BTV-1 cores were incubated at 40 ␮g/ml and 30°C for 5 to 6 h in described.
BTV core transcription buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 4 mM ATP, 2 mM
GTP, 2 mM CTP, 2 mM UTP, 500 ␮M S-adenosylmethionine, 6 mM dithiothre-
itol, 9 mM MgCl2, 0.5 U/␮l RNasin Plus [Promega]). RESULTS
Purification of bluetongue virus ssRNA. The initial step in removal of the
infectious cores from the in vitro transcription reaction was ultracentrifugation in Purification of bluetongue virus cores and in vitro synthesis
a TLS-55 rotor at 214,000 ⫻ g and 4°C for 25 min. The supernatants were spun of BTV-1 ssRNA. Since BTV cores are transcriptionally active,
a second time, as described above, to further remove residual cores. The super-
natants were made 2 M for LiCl, using 8 M LiCl (Sigma), and incubated at 4°C
yielding full-length capped ssRNAs, we used a high-yielding
for 16 h to precipitate ssRNA. Samples were microcentrifuged at 17,000 ⫻ g at and robust serotype of BTV (BTV-1) to prepare BTV cores by
4°C for 15 min. The pellets were dissolved in 200 ␮l proteinase K solution (10 purification from infected BSR cells, as described in Materials
␮g/ml in OptiMEM I [Invitrogen]) and incubated at 35°C for 30 min. The and Methods. SDS-PAGE analysis of the purified cores re-
samples were deproteinized by extracting them twice with phenol-chloroform, vealed the presence of all five of the core proteins (VP1, VP3,
0.1% (wt/vol) SDS and twice with chloroform. The aqueous phase was used
directly in transfections (see below).
VP4, VP6, and VP7) in the expected ratios and the absence of
Denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis. Purified BTV ssRNA was analyzed both of the outer capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5 (Fig. 1A).
by electrophoresis on 1% agarose in MOPS (morpholinepropanesulfonic BTV ssRNA was synthesized in vitro using the transcrip-
acid) electrophoresis buffer in the presence of formaldehyde, using standard tional activities of BTV cores as described in Materials and
techniques (16).
Methods. To ensure the removal of the cores, the reaction
Transfection of BSR cells with purified bluetongue virus RNA or bluetongue
virus cores. BSR monolayers in six-well plates were transfected with BTV-1
mixture was ultracentrifuged twice and treated with proteinase
RNA or BTV-1 cores using Lipofectamine 2000 Reagent (Invitrogen). RNA or K, followed by two extractions with phenol-chloroform, as de-
cores and Lipofectamine 2000 were individually diluted in OptiMEM I and scribed in Materials and Methods. The selective precipitation
VOL. 81, 2007 INFECTIOUS BTV RNA 2181

FIG. 2. Validation of the removal of infectious cores. BSR cell mono-

layers transfected with treated or untreated BTV-1 cores and overlaid
with agarose as described in Materials and Methods. (A) BSR monolayer
transfected with the purified nucleic acid derived from proteinase K di-
gestion and two phenol-chloroform extractions of 5 ␮g BTV-1 cores.
(B) BSR monolayer transfected with 5 ng untreated BTV-1 cores.

used as a marker to assess the expression of BTV proteins. In

FIG. 1. Purification of BTV-1 cores and synthesis of BTV-1 ssRNA
in vitro. (A) Ten percent SDS-PAGE of purified BTV-1 cores. Lane 1, ⬃50% of the cells, NS2 staining was found in a cytoplasmic
purified BTV-1 virions; lane 2, purified BTV1 cores. The numbers on punctate distribution (Fig. 3A and B). The staining pattern of
the left indicate the protein molecular mass markers in kDa, and the NS2 in transfected cells was similar to that produced in BTV-
viral proteins are indicated on the right. (B) Denaturing 1% agarose
gel electrophoresis of purified BTV-1 ssRNA. Lane 1, 1-␮g ssRNA
markers (Promega). The numbers on the left indicate the lengths of
the markers in nucleotides. Lane 2, 1 ␮g BTV-1 ssRNA. The tran-
scripts of the viral genome segments are indicated on the right.

of ssRNA with LiCl was included to separate the ssRNA from

dsRNA. Denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis analysis of the
purified BTV ssRNA showed that all 10 viral transcripts were
synthesized and purified, with no evidence of premature ter-
mination or gross degradation (Fig. 1B). This suggests that in
vitro-synthesized BTV ssRNA has the same coding potential as
BTV ssRNA produced within an infected cell.
Validation of BTV ssRNA purification. The removal of all
core particles was essential to allow study of the infectivity of
BTV ssRNA. To determine whether the ssRNA purification
method removed the infectivity from cores, a test of the pro-
teinase K digestion step, followed by the two phenol-chloro-
form extractions, was performed as described in Materials and
Methods. This was done using three independent preparations
of 50 ␮g of purified BTV-1 cores, and the infectivity of each
preparation was tested by attempting virus recovery by the
transfection of 2 ⫻ 106 BSR cells. Ten percent of each prep-
aration (equivalent to 5 ␮g of cores) was used to transfect BSR
cells and overlaid with agarose, as described in Materials and
Methods. After 72 h of incubation, no plaques were detected in
the treated samples, in contrast to the appearance of plaques
derived from 5 ng untreated cores in 48 h (Fig. 2). This result
demonstrated that no residual infectivity derived from BTV
cores remained following the procedures used to purify ssRNA
FIG. 3. Expression of NS2 in BSR cells transfected with BTV-1
from transcribing core preparations.
ssRNA. BSR cells were grown on glass coverslips in six-well plates and
Expression of bluetongue virus proteins in BSR cells trans- either transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA (A, B, and E) or infected with
fected with purified BTV-1 ssRNA. To determine whether the BTV-1 (C and D). NS2 (red) was stained by indirect immunofluores-
purified ssRNAs could synthesize viral proteins in vivo, 2 ⫻ 106 cence, and nuclei (blue) were stained with Hoescht 33342, as described in
BSR cells seeded on glass coverslips were transfected with 4 ␮g Materials and Methods. (A) BSR cells transfected with 4 ␮g (615 fmol)
BTV-1 ssRNA and fixed after 16 h. (B) Enlargement of the area indicated
(615 fmol of the ssRNA form of the genome) BTV-1 ssRNA. in panel A. (C) BSR cells infected with BTV-1 at an MOI of 1 and fixed
Fixation and staining of cells was carried out at 16 h posttrans- after 8 h. (D) Enlargement of the area indicated in panel C. (E) BSR cells
fection. The viral inclusion body-forming protein, NS2, was transfected with 6 ng (0.92 fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA and fixed after 16 h.
2182 BOYCE AND ROY J. VIROL.

FIG. 5. Synthesis of bluetongue virus dsRNA in BSR cells trans-

fected with BTV-1 ssRNA. BSR cells in six-well plates were trans-
fected with BTV-1 ssRNA, and after 3 days, dsRNA was extracted and
run on nondenaturing 9% polyacrylamide gels, as described in Mate-
rials and Methods. Five hundred nanograms of BTV-1 genomic
dsRNA was extracted from purified cores (lane 1). The BSR cells were
transfected with 4 ␮g (615 fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA (lane 2), 6 ␮g (923
FIG. 4. Time course of the expression of NS2 and VP6 in BSR cells fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA (lane 3), or 8 ␮g (1.23 pmol) BTV-1 ssRNA (lane
transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA. BSR cells (1.5 ⫻ 106) were transfected 4) or not transfected (lane 5).
with 2 ␮g (308 fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA. Lysates were harvested at inter-
vals after transfection/infection and analyzed by SDS-PAGE, followed
by immunoblotting using anti-NS2 rabbit polyclonal antibody R658
(A) or anti-VP6 mouse monoclonal antibody 2C3 (B). The numbers ery of virus would occur at a lower frequency than viral-protein
above the lanes indicate the times of harvest after transfection, in expression in transfected cells. BSR cells (2 ⫻ 106) were trans-
hours. Lane V is BSR infected with BTV-1 at an MOI of 1 and fected with 4 to 8 ␮g (0.62 to 1.23 pmol) BTV-1 ssRNA as
harvested at 72 h. The arrows indicate the positions of the NS2 and described above. At 3 days posttransfection, a cytopathic effect
VP6 bands, and the numbers on the right represent the protein mo-
indistinguishable from that caused by BTV-1 infection was
lecular mass markers in kDa.
seen in 100% of the cells (data not shown). In order to deter-
mine whether the viral ssRNA had been replicated to produce
1-infected cells (Fig. 3C and D), although the sizes of the new genomic dsRNA, the dsRNA was extracted from the
inclusion bodies were usually smaller in the transfected cells. transfected cells at 3 days posttransfection, as described in
The production of numerous discrete inclusions containing the Materials and Methods. Analysis of the dsRNA by electro-
viral NS2 protein demonstrated that transfection could effec- phoresis on nondenaturing 9% polyacrylamide gels revealed
tively deliver BTV ssRNA to the cytoplasm of BSR cells. Anal- that all 10 dsRNA segments had been synthesized in the cells
ysis of BSR cells transfected with 6 ng to 2 ␮g (0.92 fmol to 308 transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA (Fig. 5). To determine whether
fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA by immunofluorescence showed that cells infectious virus was present, 2.5 ⫻ 105 BSR cells were inocu-
expressing NS2 in the typical punctate pattern were present lated with 50 ␮l of culture medium taken from the transfected
with as little as 6 ng of RNA, but at a frequency of ⬍1% of the cells 3 days posttransfection. The inoculated BSR cells dis-
cells (Fig. 3E and data not shown). played cytopathic effect throughout the cultures at 3 days
To assess the expression of viral proteins over time in BSR postinfection (Fig. 6 and data not shown), demonstrating that
cells transfected with BTV ssRNA, the inclusion body protein infectious virus was present in the medium of the transfected
NS2 and the minor structural protein VP6 were used as mark- BSR cells. The recovery of infectious virus from transfected
ers. Replicates of 1.5 ⫻ 106 BSR cells were transfected with 2
␮g (308 fmol) BTV ssRNA and harvested at intervals, with the
presence/absence of cytopathic effect (CPE) recorded concur-
rently. The expression of NS2 was detected from 16 h onward,
with an increase in expression occurring between 48 and 64 h,
which correlated with the appearance in the cultures of CPE
indistinguishable from that caused by viral infection (Fig. 4).
The expression of VP6 was detectable from 64 h onward, again
correlating with the appearance of CPE (Fig. 4).
Recovery of infectious BTV-1 from BSR cells transfected FIG. 6. Passage of virus derived from BSR cells transfected with
BTV-1 ssRNA. BSR cells (2.5 ⫻ 105) were infected with 50 ␮l medium
with purified BTV-1 ssRNA. To determine whether infectious from BSR cells transfected with 8 ␮g (1.23 pmol) BTV-1 ssRNA (A),
virus could be generated from BTV ssRNA, large quantities of 2,500 PFU BTV-1 (B), or 50 ␮l medium from untreated BSR cells (C).
ssRNA were initially tested, as it was expected that the recov- The images were captured at 72 h postinfection.
VOL. 81, 2007 INFECTIOUS BTV RNA 2183

FIG. 7. Quantitation of virus rescue events in BSR cells transfected with BTV-1 ssRNA. (A) BSR monolayers were transfected with a dilution
series of BTV-1 ssRNA and overlaid with agarose, as described in Materials and Methods. The wells received 0 ng (well 1), 60 ng [9.23 fmol] (well
2), 200 ng [30.8 fmol] (well 3), 600 ng [92.3 fmol] (well 4), 2 ␮g [308 fmol] (well 5), or 6 ␮g [923 fmol] (well 6) of BTV-1 ssRNA. The monolayers
were fixed and stained with crystal violet 3 days after transfection. The numbers to the left of the wells indicate the numbers of plaques.
(B) Nondenaturing 9% polyacrylamide gel analysis of dsRNA extracted from virus amplified from isolated plaques. BSR cells (106) in six-well
plates were infected with virus picked from individual plaques, and dsRNA was extracted after 4 days. Lane 1, 500 ng BTV-1 dsRNA extracted
from BSR infected with BTV-1 stock virus; lanes 2 and 3, 500 ng BTV-1 dsRNA extracted from BSR infected with individual BTV-1 plaques
derived from transfection.

293T cells was also possible (data not shown), but the CPE tious material in BTV-1 ssRNA was 100,000 times greater than
took longer to become apparent and investigations were con- that of cores and independently eliminated the possibility that
tinued using only BSR cells. some cores had survived the purification of the ssRNA, dem-
Infectivity assay for purified BTV-1 ssRNA. In order to onstrating that unprotected RNA was the source of the infec-
quantify the virus rescue events and allow the recovery of virus tivity.
from individual rescue events, BSR monolayers were trans- The addition of BTV-1 dsRNA to BTV-1 ssRNA does not
fected with BTV-1 ssRNA and overlaid with agarose (see Ma- increase the rescue of infectious virus. The possibility re-
terials and Methods). Plaques were produced that were similar mained that trace quantities of genomic dsRNA were being
in appearance to those produced by infection with BTV-1 and rescued by the viral proteins encoded by the ssRNA. The
were recovered using as little as 60 ng BTV-1 ssRNA (Fig. 7A). packaging of the BTV-1 dsRNA into assembling particles
Virus from individual plaques was amplified by picking the might occur when the BTV-1 ssRNA had directed sufficient
plaques and infecting 106 BSR cells. Four days postinfection, viral-protein synthesis to assemble core particles. To address
dsRNA was extracted and analyzed by electrophoresis on non- this point, BTV-1 dsRNA was purified from cores, as described
denaturing 9% polyacrylamide gels. The dsRNA profiles of for the purification of BTV-1 ssRNA, starting at the proteinase
BTV-1 plaques derived from transfection were indistinguish- K digestion step (see Materials and Methods). Twenty-five to
able from that of BTV-1 derived from infection (Fig. 7B). 800 ng (1.92 to 61.5 fmol of genomes) purified BTV-1 dsRNA
These data demonstrated that infectious BTV-1 was present in was mixed with 2 ␮g (308 fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA, and the effect
each plaque. on the number of virus rescue events was assessed in trans-
The infectivity of purified BTV-1 ssRNA is sensitive to fected BSR cells using the infectivity assay (Fig. 9). The addi-
RNase A. The infectivity assay provided an independent means tion of BTV-1 dsRNA did not increase the infectivity of the
of assessing the nature of the infectious material in the BTV-1 BTV-1 ssRNA, demonstrating that it is the BTV-1 ssRNA that
ssRNA. To characterize the infectious material in the BTV-1 is rescued and not trace amounts of contaminating dsRNA that
ssRNA, its sensitivity to RNase A was compared with that of may be present.
BTV-1 cores, in which the genome is protected by the VP3 and
VP7 layers of the capsid. Two micrograms (308 fmol) BTV-1 DISCUSSION
ssRNA or 20 ng BTV-1 cores was digested with RNase A prior
to transfection of the BSR cells and agarose overlay, as de- In the Reoviridae family, the role of the core particles is to
scribed in Materials and Methods. The infectivity of the BTV-1 synthesize viral ssRNA in the cytoplasm of the infected cell,
ssRNA was reduced to zero by 10 pg of RNase A, whereas the where they serve as mRNAs for viral-protein synthesis and as
infectivity of the BTV-1 cores was unaffected by as much as 1 templates for the synthesis of new genomic dsRNAs. In this
␮g of RNase A (Fig. 8). The RNase A sensitivity of the infec- model, the delivery of BTV ssRNA to the cytoplasm of a cell
2184 BOYCE AND ROY J. VIROL.

FIG. 8. The infectivity of BTV-1 ssRNA is sensitive to RNase A. BSR monolayers were transfected with RNase A digests of either 2 ␮g (307
fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA (A) or 20 ng BTV-1 cores (B) and overlaid with agarose, as described in Materials and Methods. The quantities of RNase
A used were as follows: wells 1, no RNase A; wells 2, 100 ag; wells 3, 1 fg; wells 4, 10 fg; wells 5, 100 fg; wells 6, 1 pg; wells 7, 10 pg; wells 8, 100
pg; wells 9, 1 ng; wells 10, 10 ng; wells 11, 100 ng; wells 12, 1 ␮g. The monolayers were fixed and stained with crystal violet 3 days after transfection
(A) or 2 days after transfection (B).

by a route other than extrusion from an infecting core particle

should lead to the production of infectious virus. In this study,
we investigated the possibility that BTV-1 transcripts synthe-
sized in vitro are infectious when introduced into BSR cells by
transfection.
Initially, the expression of viral proteins in transfected cells
was investigated. The transfection of BSR cells with viral
ssRNA directed sufficient viral-protein expression to produce a
punctate pattern of NS2 staining, similar to that seen in the
viral inclusion bodies of infected cells (Fig. 3). Furthermore an
increase in the expression of both NS2 and the minor structural
protein VP6 coincided with the appearance of CPE in the
transfected BSR cells.
The possibility of recovering infectious virus was assessed by
the transfection of BSR cells with microgram quantities of
BTV-1 ssRNA. When BSR cells were transfected with 4 to 8
FIG. 9. The infectivity of BTV-1 ssRNA is not increased by the ␮g viral ssRNA, a CPE was visible in 100% of the cells by 3
cotransfection of BTV-1 dsRNA. BSR monolayers were cotransfected days posttransfection. Viral genomic dsRNA was synthesized
with a constant amount of BTV-1 ssRNA plus various amounts of
BTV-1 dsRNA or were transfected with BTV-1 dsRNA alone. Wells 1 in the transfected cells (Fig. 5), demonstrating that replication
to 5 were transfected with 2 ␮g (307 fmol) BTV-1 ssRNA plus the of the viral genome had occurred, a process as yet inseparable
following quantities of BTV-1 dsRNA: well 1, 0 ng; well 2, 25 ng (1.92 from the assembly of progeny particles in members of the
fmol); well 3, 50 ng (3.85 fmol); well 4, 200 ng (15.4 fmol); well 5, 800 Reoviridae. Furthermore, the CPE was reproduced in BSR
ng (61.5 fmol). Well 6 was transfected with 800 ng (61.5 fmol) BTV-1
dsRNA only. The monolayers were fixed and stained with crystal violet
cells incubated with culture medium from the transfected
3 days after transfection. The numbers to the left of wells indicate the cells, demonstrating the presence of infectious virus (Fig. 6).
numbers of plaques. We concluded from these experiments that infectious
VOL. 81, 2007 INFECTIOUS BTV RNA 2185

BTV-1 was produced in BSR cells transfected with purified particle, which has been shown to be targeted to the viral
BTV-1 ssRNA. inclusion bodies in the case of mammalian orthoreoviruses (2).
The number of virus rescue events was quantified by over- It has been suggested that the core produces ssRNA within the
laying the transfected BSR cells with agarose. Using this in- inclusion body, thus supplying viral ssRNA for packaging and
fectivity assay, the recovery of viral plaques was robust over a replication at the site of assembly of progeny cores. Delivery of
range of amounts of input ssRNA (Fig. 7). The relationship viral RNA by transfection would not reproduce this situation,
between the amount of input RNA and the number of rescue and a reduction in the recovery of virus would be expected. A
events was approximately linear between 0 and 2 ␮g of ssRNA, third possibility is that the infectivity of the ssRNA is reduced
giving a value of 140 plaques/␮g ssRNA. The fact that sufficient by low levels of RNase contamination remaining in the purified
viral-protein expression for virus rescue was produced by as cores. Degradation of the RNA may not be sufficient to pre-
little as 60 ng of ssRNA may be explained by the observation vent the synthesis of viral proteins, but it could be sufficient to
that transfection with nanogram quantities of ssRNA leads to reduce the probability of packaging a full complement of 10
high levels of protein expression in a low proportion of cells intact RNA segments.
and no detectible protein expression in the remaining cells Roner et al. established that orthoreovirus ssRNA is infec-
(Fig. 3E). tious in L929 cells when a helper virus is used, but viral ssRNA
The infectivity assay allowed the RNase A sensitivity of alone was not found to be infectious (14). The lack of infec-
infectivity derived from ssRNA to be compared with that of tivity of orthoreovirus ssRNA may indicate that there is a
core particles. Infectivity derived from cores was shown to be genuine difference between the assembly of mammalian or-
resistant to at least 100,000 times more RNase A than infec- thoreovirus and bluetongue virus. Alternatively, details specific
tivity derived from viral ssRNA (Fig. 8). We conclude from this to the system may account for the lack of virus rescue ob-
result that the infectivity present in purified BTV-1 ssRNA is served, such as the detection of viral-protein expression in only
not derived from core particles surviving the purification meth- 4% of transfected cells. Roner et al. demonstrated that in the
ods used; rather, it is dependent on the integrity of unpro- presence of a helper virus, a mixture of viral ssRNA and
tected viral RNA present. dsRNA was more infectious than ssRNA alone and that
The possibility that the infectivity of the viral ssRNA may dsRNA was infectious without ssRNA (14). These observa-
rely on trace amounts of viral dsRNA was investigated. The tions were not reproduced by the cotransfection of BSR cells
cotransfection of viral ssRNA and viral genomic dsRNA de- with BTV-1 ssRNA and dsRNA. In the former case, it is
rived from cores did not affect the number of virus rescue unclear whether this points to differences between the require-
events compared to transfection with viral ssRNA alone (Fig. ments of the two genera for packaging the viral genome or
9). From this result, we conclude that the recovery of virus whether the additional presence of a helper virus in the or-
does not depend on the packaging of trace amounts of viral thoreovirus system is the cause. In the latter case, the lack of
dsRNA into assembling particles. In addition, the possibility infectivity of BTV dsRNA should be expected, as there is no
that virus recovery is due to partly disrupted core particles known mechanism for BTV dsRNA to be used as a template
being “reassembled” with the newly synthesized viral proteins for the synthesis of viral proteins.
is ruled out by this result. In summary, we conclude that in The recovery of infectious BTV from ssRNA demonstrates
vitro-synthesized BTV transcripts are infectious when intro- that, beyond the generation of transcripts in the cytoplasm of
duced into BSR cells by transfection. This is the first report of the infected cell, there is no essential role for the core particle.
viral ssRNA being infectious without the use of a helper virus The discovery that BTV ssRNA is infectious brings the real-
in the Reoviridae family. ization of a reverse-genetics system for orbiviruses a step
A calculation from the number of plaques recovered dem- closer. To produce a reverse-genetics system from this finding
onstrates that rescue of infectious virus occurs in approxi- will require the replacement of a segment of viral ssRNA with
mately 1 in 10,000 transfected cells when microgram quantities a transcript produced from a cDNA clone. Such a method for
of viral ssRNA are used, whereas high levels of viral-protein the targeted replacement of a single ssRNA has been devel-
expression are detectible in ⬃50% of the cells. One explana- oped for use in the helper virus-based system used for or-
tion for this difference is that there may be a critical amount of thoreovirus (13). Experiments are under way to determine
viral ssRNA that must be introduced into the cell for a pro- whether heterologous genetic information can be introduced
ductive infection to be initiated. Below this threshold, there into the BTV genome by this approach, thus making possible
would be no rescue, but viral proteins would be synthesized. In the directed study of orbivirus proteins and RNAs.
addition, if rescue is to occur, a transfected cell must receive
copies of each of the 10 transcripts. Furthermore, enough ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
copies of each transcript must be present so that both viral We thank P. P. C. Mertens (IAH, United Kingdom) for the kind gift
proteins are synthesized, and enough of each transcript must of the BTV-1 South African isolate and I. M. Jones (Reading Univer-
remain available for packaging and replication. Once progeny sity, United Kingdom) for critically reading the manuscript.
cores are assembled, the transcripts produced by these progeny This work was partly supported by the BBSRC and the Wellcome
Trust, United Kingdom.
cores will lead to an amplification of gene expression and so to
further core particle and virion production. A second possibil- REFERENCES
ity involves the poorly understood processes of genome pack- 1. Bridgen, A., and R. M. Elliott. 1996. Rescue of a segmented negative-strand
aging and genome replication, which in the Reoviridae occur RNA virus entirely from cloned complementary DNAs. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA 93:15400–15404.
within the viral inclusion bodies. The introduction of viral 2. Broering, T. J., J. Kim, C. L. Miller, C. D. Piggott, J. B. Dinoso, M. L. Nibert,
ssRNA into cells by transfection omits the presence of a core and J. S. Parker. 2004. Reovirus nonstructural protein mu NS recruits viral
2186 BOYCE AND ROY J. VIROL.

core surface proteins and entering core particles to factory-like inclusions. Christiansen, and M. A. Billeter. 1995. Rescue of measles viruses from
J. Virol. 78:1882–1892. cloned DNA. EMBO J. 14:5773–5784.
3. Komoto, S., J. Sasaki, and K. Taniguchi. 2006. Reverse genetics system for 13. Roner, M. R., and W. K. Joklik. 2001. Reovirus reverse genetics: incorpo-
introduction of site-specific mutations into the double-stranded RNA ge- ration of the CAT gene into the reovirus genome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
nome of infectious rotavirus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103:4646–4651. 98:8036–8041.
4. Laemmli, U. K. 1970. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of 14. Roner, M. R., L. A. Sutphin, and W. K. Joklik. 1990. Reovirus RNA is
the head of the bacteriophage T4. Nature (London) 227:680–685. infectious. Virology 179:845–852.
5. Martin, S. A., and H. J. Zweerink. 1972. Isolation and characterization of two 15. Roy, P. 2005. Bluetongue virus proteins and particles and their role in virus
types of bluetongue virus particles. Virology 50:495–506. entry, assembly, and release. Adv. Virus Res. 64:69–123.
6. Mertens, P. P., J. N. Burroughs, and J. Anderson. 1987. Purification and 16. Sambrook, J., and D. W. Russell. 2001. Molecular cloning: a laboratory
properties of virus particles, infectious subviral particles, and cores of blue- manual, 3rd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring
tongue virus serotypes 1 and 4. Virology 157:375–386. Harbor, NY.
7. Mertens, P. P., and C. C. Payne. 1978. S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine as a 17. Taniguchi, T., M. Palmieri, and C. Weissmann. 1978. QB DNA-containing
stimulator of viral RNA synthesis by two distinct cytoplasmic polyhedrosis hybrid plasmids giving rise to QB phage formation in the bacterial host.
viruses. J. Virol. 26:832–835. Nature 274:223–228.
8. Neumann, G., and Y. Kawaoka. 2004. Reverse genetics systems for the 18. Van Dijk, A. A., and H. Huismans. 1980. The in vitro activation and further
generation of segmented negative-sense RNA viruses entirely from cloned characterization of the bluetongue virus-associated transcriptase. Virology
cDNA. Curr. Top Microbiol. Immunol. 283:43–60. 104:347–356.
9. Neumann, G., M. A. Whitt, and Y. Kawaoka. 2002. A decade after the 19. Verwoerd, D. W. 1969. Purification and characterization of bluetongue virus.
generation of a negative-sense RNA virus from cloned cDNA—what have Virology 38:203–212.
we learned? J. Gen. Virol. 83:2635–2662. 20. Verwoerd, D. W., H. J. Els, E. M. De Villiers, and H. Huismans. 1972.
10. Purse, B. V., P. S. Mellor, D. J. Rogers, A. R. Samuel, P. P. C. Mertens, and Structure of the bluetongue virus capsid. J. Virol. 10:783–794.
M. Baylis. 2005. Climate change and the recent emergence of bluetongue in 21. Verwoerd, D. W., and H. Huismans. 1972. Studies on the in vitro and the in
Europe. Nat. Rev. Microbiology 3:171–181. vivo transcription of the bluetongue virus genome. Onderstepoort J. Vet.
11. Racaniello, V. R., and D. Baltimore. 1981. Cloned poliovirus complementary Res. 39:185–191.
DNA is infectious in mammalian cells. Science 214:916–919. 22. Verwoerd, D. W., H. Louw, and R. A. Oellermann. 1970. Characterization of
12. Radecke, F., P. Spielhofer, H. Schneider, K. Kaelin, M. Huber, C. Dotsch, G. bluetongue virus ribonucleic acid. J. Virol. 5:1–7.