title: Frame-shift mutations within the vaccinia virus A-type inclusion protein gene.
abstract: The genetic basis for the failure of vaccinia virus (strain WR) to form a full-length 150 kiloDalton (kDa) A-type inclusion protein was determined by sequencing a 4.1-kb pair segment of DNA and analyzing its transcription products. Open reading frames predicted to encode slightly overlapping 84.5- and 27.1-kDa proteins homologous to contiguous N-terminal segments of the A-type inclusion protein of cowpox virus were found. A putative deletion of two adjacent nucleotides occurring within several consecutive AG repeats and an insertion of 8 nucleotides accounted for the first and second reading frame shifts, respectively. Additional small mutations affecting reading frames were present in the C-terminal region of the gene. The vaccinia and cowpox virus mRNAs encoding the disparate size A-type inclusion proteins were similar in length, had equivalent 5' and 3' ends, and were expressed late in infection indicating the absence of mutations affecting transcriptional signals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: B Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Amegadzie
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sisler
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moss
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015605:Cowpox / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral; D016368:Frameshift Mutation; D007181:Inclusion Bodies, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral