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Journal of Virology, May 2000, p. 4085-4092, Vol. 74, No. 9
Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0445
Received 15 September 1999/Accepted 31 January 2000
A short sequence, located between the A14L and A15L open reading
frames (ORFs) of vaccinia virus, was predicted to encode a hydrophobic
protein of 53 amino acids that is conserved in orthopoxviruses, leporipoxviruses, yatapoxiruses, and molluscipoxviruses. We constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus with a 10-codon epitope tag appended to
the C terminus of the A14.5L ORF. Synthesis of the tagged protein occurred at late times and was blocked by an inhibitor of DNA replication, consistent with regulation by a predicted late promoter just upstream of the A14.5L ORF. Hydrophobicity of the protein was
demonstrated by extraction into the detergent phase of Triton X-114.
The protein was associated with purified vaccinia virus particles and
with membranes of immature and mature virions that were visualized by
electron microscopy of infected cells. Efficient release of the protein
from purified virions occurred after treatment with a nonionic
detergent and reducing agent. A mutant virus, in which the A14.5L ORF
was largely deleted, produced normal-size plaques in several cell
lines, and the yields of infectious intra- and extracellular viruses
were similar to those of the parent. In contrast, with a mouse model,
mutant viruses with the A14.5L ORF largely deleted were attenuated
relative to that of the parental virus or a mutant virus with a
restored A14.5L gene.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
The Vaccinia Virus A14.5L Gene Encodes a
Hydrophobic 53-Amino-Acid Virion Membrane Protein That Enhances
Virulence in Mice and Is Conserved among Vertebrate
Poxviruses

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: 4 Center Dr.,
MSC 0445, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0445. Phone: (301) 496-9869. Fax: (301) 480-1147. E-mail:
bmoss{at}nih.gov.
Permanent address: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of
Sciences, Bratislava 842 46, Slovakia.
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