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Journal of Virology, October 2000, p. 9701-9711, Vol. 74, No. 20
Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Received 19 April 2000/Accepted 24 July 2000
The A9L open reading frame of vaccinia virus was predicted to
encode a membrane-associated protein. A transcriptional analysis of the
A9L gene indicated that it was expressed at late times in vaccinia
virus-infected cells. Late expression, as well as virion membrane
association, was demonstrated by the construction and use of a
recombinant vaccinia virus encoding an A9L protein with a C-terminal
epitope tag. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the A9L protein
was associated with both immature and mature virus particles and was
oriented in the membrane with its C terminus exposed on the virion
surface. To determine whether the A9L protein functions in viral
assembly or infectivity, we made a conditional-lethal inducible
recombinant vaccinia virus. In the absence of inducer, A9L expression
and virus replication were undetectable. Under nonpermissive
conditions, viral late protein synthesis occurred, but maturational
proteolytic processing was inhibited, and there was an accumulation of
membrane-coated electron-dense bodies, crescents, and immature virus
particles, many of which appeared abnormal. We concluded that the
product of the A9L gene is a viral membrane-associated protein and
functions at an early stage in virion morphogenesis.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
The Vaccinia Virus A9L Gene Encodes a Membrane
Protein Required for an Early Step in Virion Morphogenesis
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: National
Institutes of Health, Building 4, Room 229, 4 Center Dr., MSC 0445, Bethesda, MD 20892-0445. Phone: (301) 496-9869. Fax: (301) 480-1147. E-mail: bmoss{at}nih.gov.
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