Similar genetic organization between a region of fowlpox virus DNA and the vaccinia virus HindIII J fragment despite divergent location of the thymidine kinase gene.

DNA from Fowlpox virus, a member of the Avipoxvirus genus, has been found to hybridize to DNA from vaccinia virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus. The greatest homology detected was around the region containing the vaccinia virus thymidine kinase locus. A 3.1-kbp fowlpox virus fragment that hybridizes to the vaccinia virus HindIII J fragment has been cloned and its sequence determined. Comparison of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence to the cross hybridizing vaccinia fragment revealed extensive conservation of six open reading frames as well as a similar organization along the genome. Nevertheless a fowlpox virus gene corresponding to the vaccinia virus thymidine kinase gene was apparently lacking within the region studied and is probably located elsewhere in the genome. Despite this intriguing divergence, our results indicate that the Avipoxviruses are more closely related to the Orthopoxviruses than previously suspected.