Establishment of a rescue system for an autonomous Parvovirus mink enteritis virus

• A full-length infectious clone (pMEV) of mink enteritis virus was constructed.
• pMEV was infectious when transfected into F81 cells.
• rMEV retained the biological properties of MEV-L.

Construction and characterization of a full-length infectious clone (pMEV) of mink enteritis virus are described. Feline kidney cells (F81) were transfected with pMEV containing an engineered BamHI site that served as a genetic marker. The rescued virus was indistinguishable from its parental virus. The availability of a MEV infectious clone will facilitate studies of viral replication and pathogenicity and will permit the elucidation of determinants of the host range of the parvovirus.