SEQUENCE OF THE NUCLEOCAPSID PROTEIN GENE OF SUBGROUP-A AND SUBGROUP-B AVIAN PNEUMOVIRUSES

The nucleocapsid protein (N) gene of two subgroup A and one subgroup B strains of avian pneumovirus has been cloned and sequenced. The gene of all three isolates comprised 1197 nucleotides (nt), which formed a single major open reading frame, potentially encoding a protein of 391 amino acid residues. The N gene of the two subgroup A isolates differ ed by only 1 nt but differed by 282 (24%) nt and 35 (11%) amino acids from the B isolate. The predicted protein was identical in length to t hat of human, bovine and ovine respiratory syncytial viruses, the amin o acid identity being approximately 41% overall but with some regions of identity > 90%.