Location and nucleotide sequence of the Orgyia pseudotsugata single nucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus polyhedrin gene.

A restriction endonuclease map was determined for the Orgyia pseudotsugata single nucleocapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (SNPV) genome. The order of the fragments generated by the enzymes BglII, BamHI and XbaI was analysed using double digestion of the total genome and digestion of isolated restriction fragments. The location of the polyhedrin gene was then determined using a cloned polyhedrin gene from the O. pseudotsugata multiple nucleocapsid NPV (MNPV) as a hybridization probe. A fragment containing this gene was cloned, mapped, subcloned and the nucleotide sequence of a 1.3 kb fragment was determined which contained the entire polyhedrin reading frame and some flanking sequences. This gene demonstrated 76% nucleotide sequence homology and 87% amino acid sequence homology to the Autographa californica MNPV polyhedrin sequence. A probable regulatory element was identified which is common to the 5' flanking region of all hypertranscribed late genes (polyhedrin and 10K proteins) which have been examined in baculoviruses.