Localized conserved regions of the S RNA gene products of bunyaviruses are revealed by sequence analyses of the Simbu serogroup Aino virus.

The complete nucleotide sequence has been determined for the S RNA of Aino virus, a member of the Simbu serogroup (Bunyavirus genus, family Bunyaviridae). The S RNA is 850 nucleotides long (2.76 X 10(5) daltons) and in the viral complementary sequence has a short 5' non-coding region of 34 nucleotides and a more extensive 3' non-coding region of 117 nucleotides. The 3'-5' complementarity of the Aino S RNA is about 25 residues long, depending on the arrangement. The Aino sequence predicts that, like snowshoe hare (SSH) and La Crosse (LAC) bunyaviruses (Bishop, D.H.L., et al. (1982) Nucleic Acids Res., 10, 3703-3713; Akashi, H. and Bishop, D.H.L. (1983) J. Virol. 45, 1155-1158), there are two S coded gene products, a nucleoprotein N, and a non-structural protein, NSS, that are read from overlapping reading frames in the viral complementary sequence. The Aino N primary gene product is composed of 233 amino acids (26.2 X 10(3) daltons) and is 45% homologous in sequence with that of LAC virus. The NSS protein of Aino virus is composed of 91 amino acids (10.5 X 10(3) daltons) and is 35% homologous in sequence with the LAC NSS protein. Unlike those viruses there are no uridylate tracts longer than 4 residues in the 5' non-coding region of the S viral RNA that could function as a template for polyadenylation of Aino S mRNA species.