Bovine viral diarrhea virus genomic organization.

In previous work, we developed a preliminary description of the genetic organization of the prototypic pestivirus bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). In order to refine this genetic map and to further elucidate the gene products and expression strategy of this virus, we have generated a broad panel of sequence-specific antibody reagents. Use of these reagents not only allowed the identification of several previously undescribed viral polypeptides, but when used in in vivo pulse-chase experiments, they identified precursor polyproteins and processing intermediates. Data generated from these studies provide a more accurate and complete view of viral gene organization, as well as insight into several aspects of protein processing and the gene expression strategy employed by this pestivirus. These experiments also revealed varying stability and turnover rates for the mature BVDV proteins. These latter results have implications for the functional roles of certain gene products.