Reverse genetics system for Tick-borne encephalitis virus using Circular Polymerase Extension Reaction

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) belongs to the Family Flaviviridae, Genus Orthoflavivirus, and causes severe neurological diseases in humans. The reverse genetics system is a basic tool for viral research; however, cloning the genome of orthoflavivirus using bacterial plasmids is difficult because of their toxicity to Escherichia coli. Polymerase chain reaction-based Circular Polymerase Extension Reaction (CPER), an E. coli-free reverse genetics system, has been recently applied to several RNA viruses. However, there have been no reports on recombinant TBEV produced using CPER. In this study, we attempted to produce recombinant TBEV Oshima, Sofjin and Hypr strains by CPER. Genome sequencing and plaque-forming assays were performed to determine the properties of rescued TBEVs. In addition, infectivity and pathogenicity of rescued TBEVs was also monitored in C57BL/6 mice. Rescued TBEVs of Oshima, Sofjin and Hypr caused apparent cytopathic effect and efficient propagations in BHK cells, and showed intrinsic virulence in mice. The rescued TBEVs showed several nucleotide and amino acid substitutions compared to the original viral sequences. These results showed that infectious TBEVs from the Oshima, Sofjin, and Hypr strains were produced using CPER. We propose that future applications of this method will contribute to related research on TBEV.