GENOMIC LOCALIZATION AND NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF A LEF-8 GENE OF THE SPODOPTERA-LITTORALIS NUCLEOPOLYHEDROVIRUS

A gene similar to lef-8 of the Autographa californica (Ac) nucleopolyh edrovirus (MNPV) was identified in the Spodoptera littoralis (Spli) MN PV, The SpliMNPV lef-8-like gene was localized on the genomic map betw een 26.9 and 29 map units and is flanked by a chitinase gene and p47 g ene, This gene arrangement differs from that of similar genes in the A cMNPV genome, where the lef-8 gene is located about 62 kbp from the ch itinase gene and about 7 kbp from the p47 gene, Sequence analyses of t he lef-8 gene revealed an ORF of 2730 nucleotides, predicted to encode a protein with M-r 104876, The putative protein is 60.9% identical to the AcMNPV LEF-8 and contains an identical sequence of a conserved mo tif of DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Sequences downstream of the lef- 8 gene contain two sequence repeats which resemble a repeated motif of the SpliMNPV enhancer element and other repetitive sequences from the viral genome.