Genes homologous to ubiquitin-conjugating proteins and eukaryotic transcription factor SII in African swine fever virus

The nucleotide sequence of the 6004-bp EcoRl I fragment of African swine fever virus DNA has been determined. Translation of the sequence revealed eight closely spaced open reading frames (ORFs), three of them reading rightward and five leftward. Northern blot hybridization analysis indicated that ORFs 173R and 178R were transcribed early in infection, whereas ORFsI177L, I196L, and I329L were expressed at late times. Transcripts for ORFs I215L, I226R, and I243L were detected at low levels in early RNA and at higher levels in late RNA. The intergenic regions between genes I73R/I329L and I7811/I215L were characterized by the presence of direct repeats in tandem. Direct repetitions were also found within ORF 1196L. The protein encoded by ORF I329L contained a putative cleavable signal peptide and an internal transmembrane domain, and that encoded by ORF I177L had an amino-terminal hydrophobic region with the characteristics of a “start-stop” sequence. ORF I243L encoded a protein similar to the eukaryotic elongation factor SII. The protein encoded by ORF 1215L was homologous to the family of ubiquitin-conjugating proteins.