Identification and characterisation of an early/late bi-directional promoter of the capripoxvirus, lumpy skin disease virus

Identification and characterisation of an early/late bi-directional promote r element of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is described. The 56 bp elemen t shows substantial structural similarities with other poxvirus promoters, providing further evidence that transcriptional elements are conserved with in the Poxviridae. The relative strengths of the LSDV early and late promot ers were compared to the vaccinia virus (VV) P7.5K and P11K promoters in tr ansient expression assays. These transient assays also verified the tempora lly regulated nature of the promoter. Favourable expression levels suggest that the identified LSDV promoters could be used for expressing foreign gen es in a recombinant LSDV system.