Intracellular Localization of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Nucleocapsid Protein

ABSTRACT

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a small enveloped, positive-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Arteriviridae. It causes the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in swine. The virus has 7 structural proteins Of the seven, the N protein is the nucleocapsid that comprises a core of the virus particle. We have expressed the N protein of PRRSV PL97-1/LP1 strain using a heterologous gene expression vector derived from Sindbis virus, called pSinrep5. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that the N proteins were mainly found in the cytoplasm as well as in the nucleus of BHK-21 cells transfected with pSinrep5-N-derived RNA. Moreover, expression of the N protein did not change the incompetence of RNA replication of Mutant/nt14900 that lacks a 3' cis-acting replication element and the efficiency of RNA replication of Mutant/nt14800 that has a low level of RNA replication. Overall, our findings are consistent with previous results and help to understand a role of the N protein in PRRSV biology.