GENOME ORGANIZATION OF THE DNA-BINDING PROTEIN GENE REGION OF CRYPTOPHLEBIA-LEUCOTRETA GRANULOSIS-VIRUS IS CLOSELY-RELATED TO THAT OF NUCLEAR POLYHEDROSIS VIRUSES

The nucleotide sequence and genomic organization of a conserved genome region within the EcoRI G fragment of Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulosis virus (CIGV) is presented. Five open reading frames (ORFs) were identified which were homologous to those of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV), located upstream of the helicase gene (p143) at 63.6 to 65.6 map units. The ORFs of ClGV and AcMNPV share nucleotide sequence homologies of about 47 to 53% and are very similarly arranged. One of the ClGV ORFs potentially encodes a basic DNA-binding protein with an M(r) of about 7.3K. Its predicted amino acid sequence mainly consists of multiple arginine and serine residues and shows a 52 to 55% identity to the DNA-binding proteins of AcMNPV and other nuclear polyhedrosis viruses. Its amino acid composition conforms to that of the DNA-binding proteins of Plodia interpunctella granulosis virus and Spodoptera litura granulosis virus.