1Senior Scientist, Veterinary Type Culture Collection, National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana, INDIA;
2Scientist, Veterinary Type Culture Collection, National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana, INDIA
3Senior Scientist, National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana, INDIA
4Project Assistant, Veterinary Type Culture Collection, National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana, INDIA
5Director, Veterinary Type Culture Collection, National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana, INDIA
*Email id: sbarua06@gmail.com
Online published on 20 September, 2012.
One of the important genes associated with virulence of orthopoxviruses is the ankyrin repeat protein-coding gene. There is very little information about this gene at the genetic and functional levels of the Camelpox virus. We report the genetic and phylogeny analyses of the ankyrin gene of Camelpox virus from an outbreak in Rajasthan. The nucleotide sequence (nt) of the amplified product was 1631 bp consisting of an open-reading frame (ORF) of 1626 bp. The deduced amino-acid (aa) sequence of the ankyrin protein was 541 aa residues. Sequence analysis revealed that there was deletion of 150 bp in the Indian isolate as compared with the CMLV –M96 isolate. However, the length of this gene was similar to that of the CMLV-CMS strain along with vaccinia and variola viruses. This deletion may have a role in virulence of the viruses in different host species. Furthermore, there is a need for functional studies to elaborate the specific role played by this gene.
