The coding region for the 54-kDa protein of several pestiviruses lacks host insertions but reveals a "zinc finger-like" domain.

We sequenced cDNAs, amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which correspond to the carboxy-terminal portion of the 54-kDa protein of various cytopathic (cp) or noncytopathic (ncp) pestiviral strains. Except for the previously described insertions in two cp strains of the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), we did not find comparable insertions in this gene in eight pestiviral strains. The predicted amino acid sequences of this 54-kDa protein portion contain a conserved cysteine-rich stretch remarkably similar to a "zinc finger-type" binding domain found in many gene-regulatory proteins. Thus, this protein may be involved in the binding to viral RNA.