Alastrim smallpox variola minor virus genome DNA sequences

Alastrim variola minor virus. which causes mild smallpox, was first recogni zed in Florida and South America in the late 19th century. Genome linear do uble-stranded DNA sequences (186,986 bp) of the alastrim virus Garcia-1966, a laboratory reference strain from an outbreak associated with 0.8% case f atalities in Brazil in 1966, were determined except for a 530-bp fragment o f hairpin-loop sequences at each terminus. The DNA sequences (EMBL Accessio n No. Y16780) showed 206 potential open reading frames for proteins contain ing greater than or equal to 60 amino acids. The amino acid sequences of th e putative proteins were compared with those reported for vaccinia virus st rain Copenhagen and the Asian variola major strains India-1967 and Banglade sh-1975. About one-third of the alastrim viral proteins were 100% identical to correlates in the variola major strains and the remainder were greater than or equal to 95% identical. Compared with variola major virus DNA, alas trim virus DNA has additional segments of 898 and 627 bp, respectively, wit hin the left and right terminal regions. The former segment aligns well wit h sequences in other orthopoxviruses, particularly cowpox and vaccinia viru ses, and the latter is apparently alastrim-specific. (C) 2000 Academic Pres s.