Bioinformatic analysis suggests that the Orbivirus VP6 cistron encodes an overlapping gene.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The genus Orbivirus includes several species that infect livestock - including Bluetongue virus (BTV) and African horse sickness virus (AHSV). These viruses have linear dsRNA genomes divided into ten segments, all of which have previously been assumed to be monocistronic.

Results

Bioinformatic evidence is presented for a short overlapping coding sequence (CDS) in the Orbivirus genome segment 9, overlapping the VP6 cistron in the +1 reading frame. In BTV, a 77-79 codon AUG-initiated open reading frame (hereafter ORFX) is present in all 48 segment 9 sequences analysed. The pattern of base variations across the 48-sequence alignment indicates that ORFX is subject to functional constraints at the amino acid level (even when the constraints due to coding in the overlap

SUBMITTER: Firth AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2373779 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature