Characterization of the p10 gene region of Anticarsia gemmatalis nucleopolyhedrovirus

The Anticarsia gemmatalis nucleopolyhedrovirus (AgMNPV) p10 gene region was cloned, sequenced and the putative p10 gene expression characterized by Northern-blot analysis. Sequence analysis of the p10 gene region indicated the presence of two complete open reading frames (ORFs) of 713 and 281 nucleotides, which codes for polypeptides of 273 and 93 amino acids, with homology to the P26 and P10 proteins of baculoviruses, respectively. Two additional partial ORFs, coding for partial polypeptides of 110 and 146 amino acids, showed homology to the p22.2 gene of Choristoneura fumiferana nucleopolyhedrovirus (CfMNPV) and p74 genes of different baculoviruses, respectively. A small ORF of 224 nucleotides coding for a protein of 74 amino acids showed homology to the 3'-end of the early p94 gene of AcMNPV. A putative baculovirus very late promoter motif TAAG was identified in the 5'-non-translated region (5'-UTR) at position-54 upstream of the start codon. The consensus polyadenylation sequence AATAAA is present 146nt downstream of the termination codon and the p10 ORF is flanked by the p26 and p74 ORFs. Homology comparisons showed that the P10 protein of AgMNPV is most closely related (82% amino acid sequence identity) to the P10 from the Orgyia pseudotsugata nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV). Transcriptional analysis of the AgMNPV p10 gene showed that p10-specific transcripts could be detected late in infection.