Nucleotide sequence of the protein E gene of the tick-borne encephalitis virus strain 595 isolated in Slovakia.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus, strain 595 was isolated from Ixodes ricinus ticks in southern Slovakia. A part of the protein E gene was sequenced and compared with the prototype strain Neudorfl. Seventeen silent mutations and two amino acid changes (Ile-->Val, residue 167; Asn-->Thr, residue 366) were found. The nucleotide homology in the sequenced part of protein E gene of the strain 595 and the prototype strain Neudorfl is 98.6%. These findings indicate that the strain 595 is closely related to the strain Neudorfl.