THE GRANULIN GENE REGION OF CRYPTOPHLEBIA-LEUCOTRETA GRANULOSIS-VIRUS- SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS AND PHYLOGENETIC CONSIDERATIONS

The nucleotide sequence of a 2.2 kb genome region of the baculovirus C ryptophlebia leucotreta granulosis virus (ClGV) encompassing the granu lin gene and a second open reading frame, designated ORF909, was deter mined. The putative granulin ORF comprises 744 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide with a predicted M(r) of 29.3K. The 5' leader of the granu lin gene contains a canonical late baculovirus promoter (ATAAG) and di ffers only in two nucleotide positions from the sequence of Cydia pomo nella granulosis virus (CpGV). Sequence comparison with the granulin g enes of different granulosis viruses indicated a very close relationsh ip between ClGV and CpGV of about 96% amino acid identity. ORF909 is 9 09 nucleotides in length and encodes a potential protein of M(r) 36.2K . It contains two zinc finger-like motifs, similar to ME53, which was previously described for Autographa californica multiple nucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus. ORF909 protein is significantly shorter th an ME53 protein, lacking more than 105 amino acids of the amino termin us of ME53. Both genes contain an early and a late promoter motif sugg esting a similar temporal regulation. Homologous sequences to ORF909 a re also present upstream of the granulin genes of other granulosis vir uses (GVs) indicating that this ORF is common in GVs.