The nucleotide sequence of the coat protein genes and 3' non-coding regions of two different resistance-breaking tobamoviruses in pepper have been determined. The deduced coat protein of an Italian isolate of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMV-I) consists of 156 amino acids and its 3' non-coding region is 198 nucleotides long. They have been found to be very similar in sequence and structure to those previously reported for a Spanish isolate (PMMV-S). In contrast, a Dutch isolate termed P 11 codes for a coat protein of 160 amino acids and its 3' non-coding region is 291 nucleotides long, which may have arisen by duplication. The nucleotide and the predicted coat protein amino acid sequence analysis show that this isolate should be considered as a new virus within the tobamovirus group. The term paprika mild mottle virus (PaMMV) is proposed.

No abstract

A putative thymidylate kinase gene of African swine fever virus has been identified at the left end of the Sall I' fragment of the virus genome. The gene, designated A240L, has the potential to encode a protein of 240 amino acids with an M r of 27 754 and is transcribed early after infection. Primer extension analysis indicates that transcription is initiated a short distance from the first ATG codon of open reading frame A240L. The deduced amino acid sequence of this open reading frame shows significant similarity with the human, yeast and vaccinia virus thymidylate kinases, the degree of identity being 23"7, 25 and 23"5 %, respectively. The putative African swine fever virus thymidylate kinase sequence is essentially collinear with the other thymidylate kinase sequences, but contains a carboxy-terminal extension of 37 amino acids rich in glutamic and aspartic acids. The A240L protein conserves the ATP-binding and nucleotide/nucleoside-binding domains characteristic of thymidylate kinases.