We identified a neutralisation site on bovine coronavirus (BCoV) by sequence analysis of neutralisation-resistant mutants. Neutralisation-resistant mutants were generated using a monoclonal antibody, 4H4, against the Kakegawa strain. Analysis of neutralisation-resistant mutant viruses revealed that the antigenic site of the Kakegawa strain was mapped to amino acid position 284 of S glycoprotein. This site is not homologous to a known antigenic site (aa 528) of the Quebec strain, and it is not located in the conformational domain comprising Domain I (aa 351–403) and Domain II (aa 517–621). This amino acid constitutes a neutralisation epitope of BCoV, which is distinct from aa 528 of the Quebec strain.
(Exotic Diseases Research Division)
References:
Kanno T. et al. (2013) Arch.Virol. 158:1047-1053