SUBGENOMIC RNA SEQUENCE OF HUMAN ASTROVIRUS SUPPORTS CLASSIFICATION OF ASTROVIRIDAE AS A NEW FAMILY OF RNA VIRUSES

We report the sequence of the subgenomic RNA of human astrovirus serot ype 2. This 2,484-nucleotide RNA contains a single open reading frame, which encodes a protein with a predicted molecular mass of 88 kDa. We propose that this protein is the 90-kDa capsid precursor observed in infected cells. The deduced protein sequence does not contain conserve d amino acid patterns reported for the capsid proteins of picornavirus es or caliciviruses, consistent with the classification of astroviruse s as a new family of RNA viruses, designated Astroviridae.