Nucleotide sequence of the influenza A/duck/Alberta/60/76 virus NS RNA: Conservation of the NS1/NS2 overlapping gene structure in a divergent influenza virus RNA segment

Baez, M., Zazra, J.J., Elliott, R.M., Young, J.F. and Palese, P. (1981) Nucleotide sequence of the influenza A/duck/Alberta/60/76 virus NS RNA: Conservation of the NS1/NS2 overlapping gene structure in a divergent influenza virus RNA segment. Virology, 113(1), pp. 397-402. (doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(81)90166-5)

Abstract

The complete nucleotide sequence of the influenza A/duck/Alberta/60/76 virus NS gene was determined. A direct sequence comparison of this NS gene with that of influenza A/PR/8/34 virus showed a difference of 27.3%. In contrast, the differences among the previously sequenced NS genes of the A/PR/8/34, A/FPV/Rostock/34, and A/Udorn/72 viruses were much lower and ranged from 8–11%. The NS genes of the latter three strains contain open reading frames in their virion (−) RNAs which potentially code for polypeptides of 167 and 216 amino acids. Although the NS segment of the A/duck/Alberta/60/76 virus lacks such an agnogene in its negative strand sequence, it conserves the overlapping NS1 and NS2 gene arrangement identified in the other NS RNA segments. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of the A/duck/Alberta/60/76 and A/ PR/8/34 virus NS genes showed that the NS2 polypeptides are more highly conserved (18.2% differences) than the NS1 polypeptides (33.0% differences). Surprisingly, the NS1 polypeptides of the two strains show this high degree of variation over their entire lengths, including the amino acids encoded by the conserved RNA domain of the NS1 gene and NS2 gene overlap.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Elliott, Professor Richard
• Authors: Baez, M., Zazra, J.J., Elliott, R.M., Young, J.F., and Palese, P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Virology
• ISSN: 0042-6822
• ISSN (Online): 1096-0341