Nucleocapsid protein gene of Junin arenavirus (cDNA sequence)

The Arenavirus S RN A codes for the major structural polypeptides: the nucleocapsid protein, N, and the glycoproteins Gl and G2, that are derived from an intracellular precursor protein, GPC. We have cloned and sequenced the entire coding region for the N gene of Junin arenavirus, the etiologic agent of Argentine hemorrhagie fever. The cDNA sequence was determined by a dideoxy procedure (1) using a modified T7 DNA polymerase (SequenaseTM . USB, Cleveland, Ohio, USA) and is shown as the viral-complementary strand. The upstream non-coding sequence comprises 81 nucleotides, and the open reading frame codes for the N polypeptide, deduced to be 564 aminoacids long (mol. wt. 63,033 Da). Nucleotide and aminoacid sequences exhibit varying degrees of identity when compared to homologous regions of other arenavirus sequences. The comparison with Tacaribe virus (2), an arenavirus with a close antigenic relation to Junin, shows a 76% identity in aminoacid sequence, whereas with N proteins of other arenaviruses the identity ranges from 46 to 62%.