SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF ROTAVIRUS YM-VP6 AND NS28 PROTEINS

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of genes 6 and 10 of porcine rotavirus YM. When the amino acid sequences of VP6 and NS28, the protein products of genes 6 and 10 respectively, were compared with other published sequences it was evident that the proteins of human rotavirus Wa have the highest degree of identity with rotavirus YM. This is in contrast with the observation that when other proteins of these two strains have been compared they have been found to be among the most distantly related pairs of rotavirus strains. This observation is in accordance with the proposed receptor-ligand interaction between NS28 and VP6 during virus morphogenesis, and suggests a specificity in the interaction between these two proteins. In addition, when rotavirus YM VP6, which belongs to subgroup 1, was compared with the VP6 proteins of rotavirus strains having different subgroup specificities, it was found to be more closely related to subgroup II rather than subgroup I proteins. This finding allowed us to identify five potential amino acids on VP6 that may contribute to determining the subgroup antigens.