Rescue and characterization of the first West African Marburg virus 2021 from Guinea.
Isabel von Creytz, Gesche K Gerresheim, Clemens Lier, Jana Schneider, Martin Schauflinger, Marcel Benz, Lennart K��mper, Cornelius Rohde, Markus Eickmann, Nadine Biedenkopf
Author Information
Isabel von Creytz: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Gesche K Gerresheim: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Clemens Lier: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Jana Schneider: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Martin Schauflinger: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Marcel Benz: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Lennart K��mper: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Cornelius Rohde: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Markus Eickmann: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Nadine Biedenkopf: Institute of Virology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
Marburg virus (MARV) is a causative agent of a severe hemorrhagic fever with high fatality rates endemic in central Africa. Current outbreaks of MARV in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania underline the relevance of MARV as a public health emergency pathogen. In 2021, the first known human MARV case was confirmed in Guinea, West Africa. Since no infectious virus could be isolated from that fatal case in 2021, we generated recombinant (rec) MARV Guinea by reverse genetics in order to study and characterize this new MARV, which occurred in West Africa for the first time, in terms of its growth properties, detection by antibodies, and therapeutic potential compared to known MARV strains. Our results showed a solid viral replication of recMARV Guinea in human, bat, and monkey cell lines in comparison to other known MARV strains. We further demonstrated that replication of recMARV Guinea in cells can be inhibited by the nucleoside analogue remdesivir. Taken together, we could successfully reconstitute the first West African MARV from Guinea showing similar replication kinetics in cells compared to other central African MARV strains. Our reverse genetics approach has proven successful in characterizing emerging viruses, especially when virus isolates are missing and viral genome sequences are incomplete.
