The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of the M gene of phocid distemper virus (PDV). The most conserved protein of morbilliviruses shows a uniquely close relationship between PDV and canine distemper virus.

The nucleotide sequence of the matrix gene (M) of a recently identified morbillivirus, phocid distemper virus (PDV), was determined and the amino acid composition deduced. The M gene of PDV shared many characteristics with the corresponding gene in other morbilliviruses. The nucleotide homology with the closely related canine distemper virus (CDV) was maximum at 67% followed by measles virus (MV) (58%) and rinderpest virus (RPV) (56%). The length of the 5' long untranslated region of PDV (408) was similar to that of CDV (406) but was somewhat shorter than that of MV (425) and RPV (437). The deduced matrix protein of PDV showed structural characteristics similar to the corresponding proteins of other morbilliviruses. PDV and CDV M proteins showed a remarkably high amino acid homology of 90%. The percent amino acid homology among other morbilliviruses was between 73-77%. The M protein was the most highly conserved protein among all morbilliviruses viral components.