Polypeptides of Bovine Rotavirus

Abstract

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of bovine rotavirus or neonatal calf diarrhea virus (NCDV) grown in [rhesus monkey kidney] cell culture resolved 8 species of polypeptide. The inner shell particles contained 5 polypeptides and the outer shell 3 polypeptides. A major polypeptide of the outer shell was glycosylated. The infectivity of NCDV was enhanced by treatment with trypsin in vitro. All 8 polypeptides were affected by trypsin treatment as judged by diminished intensity of polypeptide bands by radiography and several new bands appeared. The intracellular synthesis of NCDV polypeptides was studied by pulse and pulse-chase experiments. Infected cells contained all 8 virus capsid proteins and, in addition, 3 presumably virus-specific polypeptides which were non-capsid polypeptides (NCVP). There was no evidence that any of these polypeptides was processed after synthesis. All these polypeptides are probably primary gene products.