Sequence of the Sendai virus L gene: open reading frames upstream of the main coding region suggest that the gene may...

The sequence of the L gene of Sendai virus, encompassing 6799 nucleotides, has been determined, completing the primary sequence of the entire virus genome. An open reading frame beginning at position 569 codes for a basic protein of 2048 amino acids with an estimated Mr of 231,608. No nucleotide sequence similarities with the analogous L gene of vesicular stomatitis virus were observed. However, comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of both proteins revealed a conserved 18 amino acid sequence that may have functional significance. Two additional overlapping reading frames which precede the L protein sequence could encode proteins with MrS of 6474 and 14,026, suggesting that the gene is polycistronic.