Rift Valley Fever Virus Incorporates the 78 kDa Glycoprotein into Virions Matured in Mosquito C6/36 Cells

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae is a zoonotic arthropod-borne virus able to transition between distant host species, causing potentially severe disease in humans and ruminants. Viral proteins are encoded by three genomic segments, with the medium M segment coding for four proteins: nonstructural NSm protein, two glycoproteins Gn and Gc and large 78 kDa glycoprotein (LGp) of unknown function. Goat anti-RVFV polyclonal antibody and mouse monoclonal antibody, generated against a polypeptide unique to the LGp within the RVFV proteome, detected this protein in gradient purified RVFV ZH501 virions harvested from mosquito C6/36 cells but not in virions harvested from the mammalian Vero E6 cells. The incorporation of LGp into the mosquito cell line - matured virions was confirmed by immune-electron microscopy. The LGp was incorporated into the virions immediately during the first passage in C6/36 cells of Vero E6 derived virus. Our data indicate that LGp is a structural protein in C6/36 mosquito cell generated virions. The protein may aid the transmission from the mosquitoes to the ruminant host, with a possible role in replication of RVFV in the mosquito host. To our knowledge, this is a first report of different protein composition between virions formed in insect C6/36 versus mammalian Vero E6 cells.