Identification and comparison of point mutations associated in classic and variant infectious bursal disease viruses

Restriction enzymes (RE) were used to identify point mutations in the nucleotide sequences of the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) strains Del-E, Del-A, STC, IN, Bursine 2, and Bio-Burs. The point mutations at amino acid sites 222, 254 and 323 were identified using REs BstNI, StyI and MboI, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of STC, IN, Bursine 2 and Bio-Burs were determined at each of these sites. Nucleotide sequence analysis using this data and previously reported data for Del-E and Del-A was used to confirm the point mutation and predict the resulting amino acids. Although there were some exceptions, the BstNI and StyI enzymes detected point mutations in the first base of the 222 and 254 codons, respectively and could be used to predict an amino acid change in the viruses. MboI was detecting a mutation in the third base of codon 323 and could not reliably predict an amino acid change at that position. The results indicated that amino acids 222 and 254 were consistently mutated in the variant viruses examined and that amino acid 323 was not. Furthermore, point mutations resulting in amino acid changes at position 222 suggested that several groups of viruses may be defined by this site alone; proline for classic strains like STC, threonine for Del-E and GLS, serine for IN, Bursine 2, and Bio-Burs and glutamine for Del-A.