In:
Journal of General Virology, Microbiology Society, Vol. 83, No. 12 ( 2002-12-01), p. 3075-3084
Abstract:
In this study, the complete genomic sequence of chikungunya virus (CHIK; S27 African prototype) was determined and the presence of an internal polyadenylation [I-poly(A)] site was confirmed within the 3′ non-translated region (NTR) of this strain. The complete genome was 11805 nucleotides in length, excluding the 5′ cap nucleotide, an I-poly(A) tract and the 3′ poly(A) tail. It comprised two long open reading frames that encoded the non-structural (2474 amino acids) and structural polyproteins (1244 amino acids). The genetic location of the non-structural and structural proteins was predicted by comparing the deduced amino acid sequences with the known cleavage sites of other alphaviruses, located at the C-terminal region of their virus-encoded proteins. In addition, predicted secondary structures were identified within the 5′ NTR and repeated sequence elements (RSEs) within the 3′ NTR. Amino acid sequence homologies, phylogenetic analysis of non-structural and structural proteins and characteristic RSEs revealed that although CHIK is closely related to o’nyong-nyong virus, it is in fact a distinct virus. The existence of I-poly(A) fragments with different lengths (e.g. 19, 36, 43, 91, 94 and 106 adenine nucleotides) at identical initiation positions for each clone strongly suggests that the polymerase of the alphaviruses has a capacity to create poly(A) by a template-dependant mechanism such as ‘polymerase slippage’, as has been reported for vesicular stomatitis virus.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0022-1317
,
1465-2099
DOI:
10.1099/0022-1317-83-12-3075
Language:
English
Publisher:
Microbiology Society
Publication Date:
2002
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2007065-2
SSG:
12
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