title: Phylogenetic analysis of parapoxviruses and the C-terminal heterogeneity of viral ATPase proteins.
abstract: Two outbreaks of orf virus (a parapoxvirus) infection in goats found in Nantou and Taiping of central Taiwan were investigated. The nucleotide and the amino acid sequences of viral B2L, E3L and A32L genes in these two outbreaks were analyzed, and each of their phylogenetic trees were also constructed. In the A32L gene, an unexpected deletion of 24 nucleotides was found in the Taiping strain. The A32L gene can encode an ATPase and is supposed to be involved in virion DNA packaging. The 24 nucleotides correspond to 8 amino acids residues of the viral ATPase, which are located near the C-terminal region of the enzyme. Moreover, two copies of the RGD sequence at C-terminal region of ATPase were found in the Nantou strain. The 24-nucleotide difference in the A32L gene indicated that the Nantou strain and the Taiping strain were two separate strains, and it can be used in differential molecular diagnosis. Moreover, the C-terminal heterogeneity was found to be a general feature of the viral ATPase. Lastly, similar functional motifs of the ATPase and the Ras proto-oncoprotein (a GTPase) are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kun-Wei
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Cheng-Hsiung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jen-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Hsien-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fong-Yuan
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shu-Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Min-Liang
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Wei-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000737:chemistry; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005814:Genes, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018157:Parapoxvirus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010802:Phylogeny; D011213:Poxviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006041:Goats; D000818:Animals
chemical_list: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D014764:Viral Proteins