Genome RNA terminus conservation and diversity among vesiculoviruses

Sequence analysis of the RNA genome termini of various vesiculovirus standard and defective interfering (DI) particles demonstrated that some virus regulatory sequences and domains of virus N protein are highly conserved while others show considerable divergence. Clearly, distinct RNA signal sequences and protein-coding regions of these virus genomes have quite different evolutionary pressures or constraints. Terminal regions of DI-particle RNA genomes of these viruses were found to possess self-complementary stems at the RNA termini, demonstrating the conservation of this DI-particle structural feature throughout the vesiculovirus group. A high degree of conservation of the 3'-terminal sequences of recent and historic isolates of vesicular stomatitis virus New Jersey was also demonstrated.