HEXON SEQUENCE OF ADENOVIRUS TYPE-7 AND COMPARISON WITH OTHER SEROTYPES OF SUBGENUS-B

The heron gene of human adenovirus (AV) type 7 (subgenus B) was sequen ced. The determined nucleotide and the predicted amino acid sequences were compared to the corresponding sequences of AV3 and AV16. The hero ns of AV7 and AV3 revealed an overall homology of 94.3% at the protein level, whereas the AV7 and AV16 herons only showed an overall homolog y of 85.7% Utilizing the three-dimensional model of the AV2 heron, the structure of the AV7 heron was predicted. The major differences betwe en the three subgenus B heron polypeptides were confined to the I-1 an d I-2 surface loops. The AV7I(4) hexon loop was 100% identical to the other subgenus BI4 loops, but differed from the corresponding regions of other subgenera. This supports the idea that this loop carries a su bgenus-specific determinant.