title: Virions of Heliothis armigera entomopoxvirus contain a homologue of the vaccinia VP8 major core protein.
abstract: An antigenic 30 K virion protein of Heliothis armigera entomopoxvirus (HaEPV) has been identified as a homologue of the chordopoxvirus (ChPV) VP8 major virion core protein. Like its homologue in vaccinia virus, the mature HaEPV 30 K protein is derived by post-translational cleavage of a precursor at a conserved AGA motif. The HaEPV 30 K protein is the first EPV structural virion protein to be described, and elucidation of its characteristics provides evidence for the assumption that morphological similarities observed between virions of the sub-families Entomopoxvirinae and Chordopoxvirinae by microscopy reflect corresponding similarities at a molecular level. Sequencing of the HaEPV genome adjacent to the 30K locus identified an ORF encoding a homologue of the regulatory sub-unit of the ChPV poly(A) polymerase enzyme; the conceptual product of this ORF showed 25-31% aa sequence identity to those of various ChPVs. The presence of this gene in the HaEPV genome supports the hypothesis that there is a substantial correspondence in basic metabolic processes of members of the two poxvirus sub-families, despite their utilization of divergent host groups. In contrast, the relative positions of the 30 K and poly(A) polymerase loci in the HaEPV genome provide further evidence of substantial genomic re-arrangement subsequent to divergence of these viral taxa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis 95616, USA. davidd@ento.csiro.au
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crnov
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dall
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017996:Entomopoxvirinae / Q000235:genetics*; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000235:genetics*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C121814:HaEPV p30 protein, Heliothis armigera entomopoxvirus; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; C108986:vaccinia virus protein VP8