Rearrangement of the VP6 gene of a group A rotavirus in combination with a point mutation affecting trimer stability

A group A rotavirus isolated from a lamb with diarrhea in Qinhai province, China, was serially passaged in fetal calf kidney cells. In passage 96, rearrangements of RNA segments 5 and 6 of the viral genome were found. Here we report the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of normal and rearranged RNA 6, coding for the major inner capsid protein VP6. In comparison with the normal gene (N6), the rearranged RNA 6 (R6) contained the normal open reading frame followed by a 473-nucleotide (nt) duplication of the gene beginning 23 nt after the termination codon. The duplicated region starts at nt 768 and runs through to the 3' end of the gene. In accordance with the nucleotide sequence of the rearranged RNA 6, a normal-length VP6 product was found in cells infected with the mutant. However, a single-amino-acid change from proline to glutamine at position 309 slightly affected the electrophoretic mobility of the VP6 monomer of the R6 mutant and reduced the stability of VP6 trimers on gels and at low pH values compared with the normal gene product. The degree of relatedness of VP6 of the Chinese lamb rotavirus Lp14 to those of other group A rotaviruses was determined.