CLONING, SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS AND EXPRESSION OF THE MAJOR OUTER CAPSID PROTEIN GENE OF AN AQUAREOVIRUS

The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of genome segment 10 o f aquareovirus strain SBR, encoding the major outer capsid protein (VP 7), have been determined. Genome segment 10 of SBR virus is 986 nucleo tides long and encodes a polypeptide of 298 amino acids with a predict ed molecular mass of 32430 Da. There are 26 non-translated nucleotides at the 5' end and 66 non-translated nucleotides at the 3' end. Using a recombinant baculovirus system, the VP7 protein of SBR virus was exp ressed to a high level. The baculovirus-produced VP7 protein was simil ar both in its size and antigenic properties to the authentic aquareov irus VP7 protein. Antiserum from a rabbit immunized with the baculovir us-produced VP7 protein failed to neutralize the homologous aquareovir us strain. As determined by Western blotting, this antiserum reacted w ith aquareovirus strains belonging to the same genogroup as SBR virus, but did not react with aquareovirus strains belonging to the other ge nogroups.