Segmentation of the rabies virus genome.

We established a system for the recovery of a segmented recombinant rabies virus, the virus genome RNA of which was divided into two parts: segment 1 encoding the nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein, matrix protein, and glycoprotein genes, and segment 2 encoding the large RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene. The morphology of the segmented recombinant rabies virus was bullet-like in shape with a length of approximately 130 nm, which is shorter than the 200-nm long non-segmented recombinant rabies virus. The segmented recombinant rabies virus was maintained for at least 18 passages. The virus multiplication rate of the segmented recombinant rabies virus was lower than that of the non-segmented recombinant rabies virus during the passages, and the relative amounts of virus genome RNAs for segment 1 and segment 2 differed in the supernatant of the segmented recombinant rabies virus infected cells. These results suggest that the segmented recombinant rabies virus packages either segment 1 or segment 2 into each virus particle. Thus, co-infection with segmented recombinant rabies virus particles packaging segment 1 or segment 2 may be necessary for the production of progeny virus.