Evidence for Novel Hepaciviruses in Rodents

Drexler, Jan Felix; Corman, Victor Max; Müller, Marcel Alexander; Lukashev, Alexander N.; Gmyl, Anatoly; Coutard, Bruno; Adam, Alexander; Ritz, Daniel; Leijten, Lonneke M.; van Riel, Debby; Kallies, Rene; Klose, Stefan M.; Gloza-Rausch, Florian; Binger, Tabea; Annan, Augustina; Adu-Sarkodie, Yaw; Oppong, Samuel; Bourgarel, Mathieu; Rupp, Daniel; Hoffmann, Bernd; Schlegel, Mathias; Kümmerer, Beate M.; Krüger, Detlev H.; Schmidt-Chanasit, Jonas; Setién, Alvaro Aguilar; Cottontail, Veronika M.; Hemachudha, Thiravat; Wacharapluesadee, Supaporn; Osterrieder, Klaus; Bartenschlager, Ralf; Matthee, Sonja; Beer, Martin; Kuiken, Thijs; Reusken, Chantal; Leroy, Eric M.; Ulrich, Rainer G.; Drosten, Christian

Myodes hepacivirus clade 2 antigen did not cross-react with this rabbit control serum even at high concentrations of 1:100, compatible with low NS3 amino acid sequence identity between the NS3 proteins of the two Myodes hepacivirus clades (42.4%, Supplementary Table S4 ). Neither hepacivirus clade 1, nor clade 2 antibody-positive sera cross-reacted with HCV by immunofluorescence and by immunoblot, indicating specific immune reactions against the viruses studied (exemplary results in Figure 6D ). This was compatible with low NS3 amino acid sequence identities between both Myodes hepacivirus clades and HCV, ranging from 37.9-42.2% (Supplementary Table S4 ).