Complete nucleotide sequence of the fusolin gene of an entomopoxvirus in the cupreous chafer, Anomala cuprea Hope (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae).

The fusolin gene of Anomala cuprea entomopoxvirus (AcEPV) was cloned and sequenced. The sequence was compared with that of fusolin genes of EPVs from other insects such as Melolontha melolontha (MmEPV), Choristoneura biennis (CbEPV) and Heliothis armigera (HaEPV) previously reported. The gene harbored a single open reading frame (ORF) of 1119 nt capable of coding for a protein of 43.3 kDa. The microsequencing of the protein showed the cleavage of a signal peptide of 16 amino acid (aa) residues. The predicted aa sequence revealed significant homologies with the corresponding sequence in other EPVs, showing a 53, 51 and 52% aa-identity with MmEPV, CbEPV and HaEPV, respectively. In the ORF, five 'conserved regions' described by Vialard et al. (1990, Journal of Virology 64, 5804-5811) like other EPVs were detected. Eleven cysteine residues, presumably involved in paracrystal formation, were also detected. On the other hand, AcEPV, belonging to Genus A, harbored a potential N-glycosylation site in the ORF like CbEPV and HaEPV belonging to Genus B which was not, however, detected in MmEPV belonging to the same Genus as AcEPV. Furthermore, the last 330 bp region of the ORF revealed a low homology with that of MmEPV.