Investigating properties of wildtype and mutant Barmah Forest virus replicases

Abstract

Barmah Forest virus (BFV) is an alphavirus that is mostly spread in Australia and it causes disease in humans upon infection that may manifest as arthritis, myalgia, fever and rash. For this reason, BFV is a cause for concern in puclic health and often a subject in alphavirus related research. In the current work, we observed that BFV replicase activates the type I IFN response in the absence of a viral template, and that mutations in viral replicase proteins may boost IFN production. Furthermore, we looked into the effect that these mutations may possess on the replication and transcription of the BFV replicase using the trans-complementation system. These experiments aid in understanding how alphaviruses influence host cells and vice versa, which could provide useful information in the research for antiviral agents.