Cloning and molecular characterization of an oral papillomavirus of domestic rabbits.

DNA obtained from New Zealand white rabbit oral papillomas was analyzed for the presence of papillomavirus DNA. The viral genome was cloned as three separate subclones, which were each mapped and oriented with respect to one another. Comparisons with other papillomavirus DNAs by Southern blot hybridization under various conditions of stringency revealed a strong area of conservation among the DNAs of the rabbit oral papillomavirus (ROPV) and CRPV, HPV-1a, HPV-16, and BPV-5, but not with 12 other papillomavirus DNAs. This region, which spans the junction of the presumptive E2 and L2 open reading frames of ROPV, was sequenced and compared to other known papillomavirus sequences. These analyses revealed a high degree of DNA homology in the C-terminal E2 and N-terminal L2 regions between ROPV and both HPV-1a and CRPV. The homology with HPV-16 was limited to the L2 open reading frame. The predicted amino acid sequences of each region were also compared and bore out the same conclusions. In addition, no E5 open reading frame was detected in the ROPV sequence.