title: The complete sequence of Leishmania RNA virus LRV2-1, a virus of an Old World parasite strain.
abstract: A complete cDNA sequence is reported for LRV2-1, the first Leishmania RNA virus known to infect an Old World parasite, Leishmania major. Sequence analyses show that LRV2-1 differs significantly from members of the LRV1 genus which infect New World parasites. The data support a view that transmission of LRV is strictly vertical and suggest that LRV predate the divergence of Old and New World parasites. As a consequence of this divergence, conserved features can be identified for the first time in Leishmaniavirus proteins. A finding that the virus capsid and polymerase genes do not overlap is unique among the known Totiviridae and infers that a gag-pol fusion protein cannot be produced simply via tRNA slippage in LRV2-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Scheffter
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Ro
authors.forename: I K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral