Genomic characterization of equine coronavirus

The complete genome sequence of the first equine coronavirus (ECoV) isolate, NC99 strain was accomplished by directly sequencing 11 overlapping fragments which were RT-PCR amplified from viral RNA. The ECoV genome is 30,992 nucleotides in length, excluding the poly A tail. Analysis of the sequence identified 11 open reading frames which encode two replicase polyproteins, five structural proteins (hemagglutinin esterase, spike, envelope, membrane, and nucleocapsid) and four accessory proteins (NS2, p4.7, p 12.7, and I). The two replicase polyproteins are predicted to be proteolytically processed by three virus-encoded proteases into 16 non-structural proteins (nsp1-16). The ECoV nsp3 protein had considerable amino acid deletions and insertions compared to the nsp3 proteins of bovine coronavirus, human coronavirus OC43, and porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus, three group 2 coronaviruses pbylogenetically most closely related to ECoV. The structure of subgenomic mRNAs was analyzed by Northern blot analysis and sequencing of the leader-body junction in each sg mRNA. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.