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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Vaccinia Virus Infection & Temporal Analysis of Virus Gene Expression: Part 1
Published on: April 8, 2009
Potential virulence determinants in terminal regions of variola smallpox virus genome
R F Massung1, J J Esposito, L I Liu
1Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Abstract:
Smallpox eradication culminated the most successful antimicrobial campaign in medical history. To characterize further the linear double-stranded DNA genome of the aetiological agent of smallpox, we have determined the entire nucleotide sequence of the highly virulent variola major virus, strain Bangladesh-1975 (VAR-BSH; 186,102 base pairs, 33.7% G + C; Genbank accession number, L22579). Here we highlight features of the molecule and focus on a few of the 187 putative proteins that probably contribute to pathogenicity and virus host-range properties. One hundred and fifty proteins were markedly similar to those of vaccinia virus (smallpox vaccine), for which a complete sequence has been reported for strain Copenhagen (VAC-CPN; 191,636 base pairs, 33.3% G + C). The remaining 37 proteins reflected variola-specific sequences or open reading frame divergences for variant proteins, which are often truncated or elongated compared with their vaccinia counterparts.
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