title: Loss of V protein expression in human parainfluenza virus type 1 is not a recent event.
abstract: The P gene of paramyxoviruses usually contains an alternate overlapping ORF coding for a short cysteine-rich domain called V. This domain was thought to be a common feature of these genes as it is present in ten paramyxoviruses. However, the V ORF region of the P gene of one strain of human parainfluenza-virus type 1 (isolated in 1957) was recently found to be closed by no less than 9 stop codons. To determine whether the absence of the V ORF here might be due to the long adaptation of this strain in culture, 3 other more recent isolates were examined. Small differences in the V region were found, but all had conserved the vast majority of the stop codons. Moreover, examination of most of the intercistronic regions of the PIV1 genome failed to uncover a cryptic V gene. The V ORF is then unlikely to be a common feature of paramyxovirus P genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rochat
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Komada
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kolakofsky
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010222:Parainfluenza Virus 1, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C068854:V protein, human parainfluenza virus type 1; D014764:Viral Proteins