NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF A NUCLEOSIDE TRIPHOSPHATE PHOSPHOHYDROLASE GENE FROM AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS

A putative nucleoside triphosphate phosphohydrolase (NTPase) gene of A frican swine fever virus was identified by using a degenerate oligonuc leotide probe derived from the nucleoside triphosphate binding motif, which is highly conserved among viral and cellular NTPases. The probe hybridized with fragments SalI E and EcoRI Q, which is entirely contai ned in the former one. Sequencing of this region revealed an open read ing frame, designated Q706L, coding for a protein of 706 amino acids, with a calculated molecular weight of 80,283. The deduced amino acid s equence of this open reading frame has significant similarity with the putative helicase encoded by the killer plasmid pGKL2 of Kluyveromyce s lactis as well as with the NTPase I of vaccinia virus and entomopoxv irus and a subunit of the early transcription factor of vaccinia and f owlpox virus. The protein encoded by this open reading frame contains the sequence features characteristic of helicases of the superfamily I I. According to this, we propose the inclusion of the product of this ASF virus gene in this superfamily.