Rhabdovirus Sigma, the Hereditary CO2 Sensitivity Agent of Drosophila: Nucleotide Sequence of a cDNA Clone Encoding the Glycoprotein

Laboratoire de Génétique des Virus, C.N.R.S., 91190 Gif sur Yvette, France Sigma virus, the hereditary agent of a CO 2 -induced paralysis of Drosophila , is classified as a rhabdovirus on a molecular basis. We have purified its genome which after 32 P-labelling was used as a probe to detect mRNAs in infected cells. A cDNA copy of the entire coding region of the glycoprotein mRNA was cloned. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences were determined and compared to previously known sequences of other rhabdovirus glycoproteins to determine the relatedness of Sigma virus to other viruses of this group. Keywords: rhabdovirus Sigma, nucleotide sequence, Drosophila melanogaster Received 12 March 1987; accepted 1 July 1987.