SUMMARYWe have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of human rhinovirus 1B and made comparisons with other rhinoviruses. Extensive homology was found with serotypes 2 and 89 but the similarity to serotype 14 was considerably less. Rhinovirusspecific characteristics have been noted, in particular the length of the 5' non-coding region and the pattern of codon usage, and these may be sufficient to define the rhinoviruses as a distinct genus rather than being considered as members of the enteroviruses as has been suggested previously.

A new method of representing DNA sequences has been devised which is termed stave projection. Compared with other formats for showing the base sequences of DNA, this method greatly enhances the ease of visual analysis of the sequences of bases and it is also in a machine readable form. Using this method it is possible to identify and annotate all of the functional features found in DNA sequences.