Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Reverse Genetics Mediated Recovery of Infectious Murine Norovirus
Published on: June 24, 2012
Experimental evidence of recombination in murine noroviruses
Elisabeth Mathijs1, Benoît Muylkens, Axel Mauroy
1Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Virology and Viral Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium.
Abstract:
Based on sequencing data, norovirus (NoV) recombinants have been described, but no experimental evidence of recombination in NoVs has been documented. Using the murine norovirus (MNV) model, we investigated the occurrence of genetic recombination between two co-infecting wild-type MNV isolates in RAW cells. The design of a PCR-based genotyping tool allowed accurate discrimination between the parental genomes and the detection of a viable recombinant MNV (Rec MNV) in the progeny viruses. Genetic analysis of Rec MNV identified a homologous-recombination event located at the ORF1-ORF2 overlap. Rec MNV exhibited distinct growth curves and produced smaller plaques than the wild-type MNV in RAW cells. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that MNV undergoes homologous recombination at the previously described recombination hot spot for NoVs, suggesting that the MNV model might be suitable for in vitro studies of NoV recombination. Moreover, the results show that exchange of genetic material between NoVs can generate viruses with distinct biological properties from the parental viruses.
Related Concept Videos
Viral Recombination
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Homologous Recombination
Homologous Recombination
Viral Mutations

