Three transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV) defective interfering RNAs of 21, 10.6 and 9.7 kb (DI-A, DI-B and DI-C, respectively) were isolated. Dilution experiments showed that the largest DI RNA, DI-A, is a self-replicating RNA (replicon), and thus codes for a functional RNA polymerase and all the necessary replication signals. In order to engineer a cDNA encoding the RNA replicon a strategy based on the cloning of DI-C cDNA, followed by the insertion of the sequences required to complete the DI-A sequence has been developed. A cDNA complementary to DI-C RNA was cloned under the control of the CMV promoter (pDI-C-CMV) and rescued with a helper virus. In the ORF 1a of polymerase gene pDI-C-CMV contained a 10 kb deletion and in ORF 1b a 1.1 kb deletion. The consensus sequence corresponding to the deleted regions was cloned, and the deletions in pDI-C-CMV were replaced to yield a complete cDNA clone of DI-A, pDI-A-21-CMV, containing a full-length TGEV polymerase, driven by a CMV promoter. Expression of a functional TGEV polymerase is being investigated.
Progress towards the construction of a transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus self-replicating RNA using a two-layer expression system.