A baculovirus gene with a novel transcription pattern encodes a polypeptide with a zinc finger and a leucine zipper.

An Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus gene encoding a 30-kilodalton polypeptide with two different sequence motifs characteristic of DNA-binding proteins was identified immediately downstream of the major capsid protein gene (vp39). The gene, CG30, was characterized by sequencing, transcriptional mapping, in vitro translation of hybrid-selected RNA, and comparison of the derived polypeptide sequence with published data bases. The initial ATG of the 792-base-pair CG30 open reading frame is two nucleotides downstream of the vp39 terminal TAA codon. Early transcripts of CG30 initiate within the vp39 coding sequence. At late times, bicistronic transcripts initiate from the vp39 promoter, continue through CG30, and terminate at the same site as the early transcripts. In vitro translation of hybrid-selected early CG30 RNA yields a polypeptide of 30 kilodaltons. The predicted CG30 polypeptide sequence has characteristics of a eucaryotic transcriptional activator and is novel in having two potential DNA-binding domains. A stretch of acidic residues bridges a zinc finger at the amino terminus and a leucine zipper with a flanking basic region at the carboxyl terminus.