NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE GENE ENCODING THE VIRAL POLYMERASE OF AVIAN PNEUMOVIRUS

We report here the nucleotide sequence of the L gene of avian pneumovi rus (APV). This is the second pneumovirus L gene and the second avian paramyxovirus L gene, following that of Newcastle disease virus, to be sequenced. The APV L gene is 6099 nucleotides long and encodes a sing le large ORF of 2004 amino acids. This makes the APV L protein the sma llest to be described for any nonsegmented, negative-strand RNA virus. The protein contains six linear non-contiguous domains, a putative AT P-binding site and four polymerase motifs previously described for the L proteins of negative-strand RNA viruses. Phylogenetic analysis of d omain III of 14 different L proteins suggests the pneumoviruses to be as distant in evolutionary terms from the other members of the Paramyx oviridae as are the Filoviridae.