title: Evolutionary relatedness of the predicted gene product of RNA segment 2 of the tick-borne Dhori virus and the PB1 polymerase gene of influenza viruses.
abstract: The complete nucleotide sequence of the second largest RNA segment of Dhori/India/1313/61 virus was determined and the deduced amino acid sequence was compared with the polymerase (P) proteins of influenza A, B, and C viruses. RNA segment 2 (2224 nucleotides) of Dhori virus contains a single long open reading frame that can encode a 716-amino acid polypeptide (81.3 kDa). The predicted polypeptide shares between 27 and 31% sequence identities with the PB1 polypeptides of influenza A, B, and C viruses. Among the regions most highly conserved are the sequences around the Asp-Asp motif common to many RNA polymerases. In spite of the high level of sequence identity between the Dhori RNA segment 2 gene product and the influenza A, B, and C virus PB1 proteins the amino acid composition of the Dhori protein indicates an acidic charge feature at pH 7.0 in contrast to the basic nature of the PB1 proteins of the influenza viruses. We suggest that the Dhori PB1-like protein be designated the P alpha protein of this virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roychoudhury
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palese
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Clay
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Fuller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases