PARAPOXVIRUS OF RED DEER - EVIDENCE FOR ITS INCLUSION AS A NEW MEMBERIN THE GENUS PARAPOXVIRUS

There are three accepted members of the parapoxvirus genus, orf virus (OV), papular stomatitis virus (PSV), and pseudocowpox virus (PCV). OV is maintained in sheep and goats and PSV and PCV in cattle. Restricti on endonuclease profiles of the DNA derived from representatives of th ese established members of the genus were compared with profiles from a parapoxvirus recently isolated from red deer. In no case did the pro file of this latter virus (DPV) resemble those generated from the othe r parapoxviruses. Southern blot hybridization using total DPV DNA as a probe revealed homology between DPV and the central regions of the ge nomes of the other parapoxviruses but not to their terminal regions. T hese results indicate that the genome of DPV is as different from the genomes of the three accepted members of the genus as the latter are f rom each other and argue for the inclusion of DPV as a new member of t he parapoxvirus genus. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.