Structural proteins and cell-free translation products of total RNA and hybrid-selected RNA from two DNA variants of vaccinia virus.

Two major variants of vaccinia virus, large (L) and small (S), differ by a deletion of 9.7 kilobase pairs. The structural proteins and the translation products of RNA transcribed in vitro from each of these variants were analyzed by gel electrophoresis. Recombinant plasmids were used to select RNA transcribed from the L variant sequences corresponding to the deletion. This RNA yielded translation products indicating that a minimum of 11 polypeptides, including two structural proteins, map within the deletion.