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Updated: May 24, 2026

Isolation of Viral Replication Compartment-enriched Sub-nuclear Fractions from Adenovirus-infected Normal Human Cells
Published on: November 12, 2015
Elements in the canine distemper virus M 3' UTR contribute to control of replication efficiency and virulence
Danielle E Anderson1, Alexandre Castan, Martin Bisaillon
1INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, University of Quebec, Laval, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract:
Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus within the genus Morbillivirus and the family Paramyxoviridae. The Morbillivirus genome is composed of six transcriptional units that are separated by untranslated regions (UTRs), which are relatively uniform in length, with the exception of the UTR between the matrix (M) and fusion (F) genes. This UTR is at least three times longer and in the case of CDV also highly variable. Exchange of the M-F region between different CDV strains did not affect virulence or disease phenotype, demonstrating that this region is functionally interchangeable. Viruses carrying the deletions in the M 3' UTR replicated more efficiently, which correlated with a reduction of virulence, suggesting that overall length as well as specific sequence motifs distributed throughout the region contribute to virulence.
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