Analysis of the ovine respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) G glycoprotein gene defines a subgroup of ungulate RSV.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been isolated from sheep suffering from respiratory tract disease. Since the greatest differences between bovine RSV and human RSV are found on the attachment G protein, we have determined the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the G gene of ovine RSV. The latter contained 838 nucleotides and had a major open reading frame encoding a protein of 263 residues, and shared 73% nucleotide sequence identity with that of bovine RSV. The deduced amino acid sequence of the ovine RSV G protein showed only 60% amino acid identity with the G protein of bovine RSV. Despite the low level of identity, there were similarities in the predicted hydropathy profiles of the G proteins of ovine and bovine RSV. The intergenic sequences for the SH-G and G-F gene junctions of ovine RSV showed 64 and 57% identity respectively with the corresponding regions of the bovine RSV. Our results indicate that ovine and bovine RSV might be classified as two subgroups of an ungulate RSV.