Nucleotide sequence of the dsRNA genomic segment 7 of Simian 11 rotavirus

A full length cDNA copy of dsRNA segment seven of Simian 11 rotavirus has been obtained by standard molecular cloning techniques. Segment seven codes for the non-structural viral protein NCVP4 and is 1104 nucleotides in length with putative 5'- and 3'- terminal non-coding regions of 25 and 134 residues respectively. The longest open reading frame of 315 codons extends from nucleotide 26 to 970 inclusive. However, the presence nearby of two other AUG codons makes it unclear which codon is used for initiation. The second AUG conforms to the Kozak consensus sequence and if utilised, would yield a protein 312 amino acids in length with a nett charge at pH7 of -2.5. Determination of the gene 7 sequence indicates that terminal sequence conservation among rotavirus gene segments is limited to three and two nucleotides at the 5' and 3' ends of the plus strand, respectively.