title: The genome of a baculovirus isolated from Hemileuca sp. encodes a serpin ortholog.
abstract: The genome sequence of a baculovirus from Hemileuca sp. was determined. The genome is 140,633 kb, has a G+C content of 38.1 %, and encodes 137 putative open-reading frames over 50 amino acids. 126 of these ORFs showed similarity to other baculovirus genes in the database including all 37 core genes. Of the remaining 11 predicted genes, one is related to a lepidopteran serpin gene. This is the first report of a baculovirus encoding a member of this family of serine protease inhibitors, and to our knowledge the first report of a viral serpin outside the Poxviridae. The genome also contained three homologous repeat sequences. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the virus is a group II Alphabaculovirus and belongs to a lineage that includes Orgyia leucostigma, Ectropis obliqua, Apocheima cinerarium, and Euproctis pseudoconspersa nucleopolyhedroviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331-3804, USA, rohrmanng@orst.edu.
authors.forename: George F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Rohrmann
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Erlandson
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Theilmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001482:Base Composition; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D023061:Gene Order; D016679:Genome, Viral; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D015843:Serpins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015843:Serpins