| abstract |
Disclosed is a polynucleotide comprising a chimeric viral RNA which contains: a 5' nontranslated region (5' NTR), an open reading frame (ORF) region, and a 3' nontranslated region (3' NTR) wherein at least one of said regions is chimeric. The chimeric region comprises a first nucleotide sequence from a pestivirus in operable linkage with a heterologous nucleotide sequence. The chimeric viral RNA is replication-competent. Preferably the pestivirus sequence is from a bovine viral diarrhea virus and the heterologous nucleotide sequence is from a hepatitis C virus. Also disclosed are a method for identifying compounds having antiviral activity agaisnt hepatitis C virus, a genetically-engineered chimeric RNA virus and a vaccine against bovine viral diarrhea virus. |