Sequence and analysis of bovine enteritic coronavirus (F15) genome. I. Sequence of the gene coding for the nucleocapsid protein; analysis of the predicted protein.

Sequences encoding the N protein of the bovine enteritic coronavirus-F15 strain (BECV-F15) have been cloned in PBR322 plasmid using cDNA produced by priming with oligo-dT on purified viral genomic RNA. Some 265 insert-containing clones were studied. Hybridization of these inserts with poly(A)+ RNA extracted from infected cells led to the conclusion that they were located at the 3'-end of the genome. After subcloning in M13 phage DNA, clones were sequenced by the Sanger technique. A 1,710-nucleotide sequence corresponding to the gene coding for the viral N-protein was established. It shows 2 overlapping open reading frames (ORF). The 3'-non-coding end of the gene has an 8-nucleotide sequence in common with the homologous genome areas of MHV, TGE and IBV viruses. This sequence may represent the polymerase RNA binding site. An upstream sequence surrounding the first AUG of the smaller ORF corresponds to a potentially functional initiation codon. The sequence of the primary translation product deduced from the DNA sequence predicts a polypeptide of 207 amino acids (22.9 Kd) with a high leucine (19.8%) content, possessing a hydrophobic N-terminal end. The larger ORF has a coding capacity of 448 amino acids (49.4 Kd), corresponding to the N-protein molecular weight. The deduced protein possesses 43 serine residues (9.6% of the total amino acid content) which may be phosphorylated and involved in N-protein/RNA binding. N-protein also has 5 regions with a high basic amino acid content. One of them is also serine-rich and has a strong homology site with MHV, TGE and IBV viruses. In the first part of the N-terminal, a 12-amino-acid sequence (PRWYFYYLGTGP) is highly conserved for BECV-F15, JHM, TGE and IBV viruses. BCV Mebus strain and BECV-F15 have only minor differences in their N-protein sequence.