Gene junction sequences of bovine respiratory syncytial virus

The nucleotide sequences of seven gene junctions (N-P, P-M, M-SH, SH-G, G-F, F-M2 and M2-L) of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) strain A51908 were determined by dideoxynucleotide sequencing of cDNAs from polytranscript mRNAs and from genomic RNA. By comparison with the consensus sequences derived from human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) mRNAs, gene-start and gene-end sequences were found in all BRSV mRNAs. There was a perfect match between the BRSV and HRSV in all gene-start sequences, except for the sequence of the SH gene which contained one nucleotide difference compared to HRSV A2; and the gene-start sequence of the L gene, which was one nucleotide shorter than the corresponding sequence of HRSV. Analysis of the intergenic regions showed a high degree of divergence in the nucleotide sequence between BRSV and HRSV. However, the length of the nucleotides in the intergenic sequences was similar for a given gene junction. As in the case of HRSV, the M2 and L genes of BRSV overlap by 68 nucleotides, suggesting a similar transcription attenuation mechanism. The sequences of the overlap, corresponding to the 3' end of the L gene, were almost identical between BRSV and HRSV.