Sequence analysis of hepatitis A vi: proteins and RNA polymerase

We report here the nucleotide sequence cor- responding to two large regions of the hepatitis A virus (HAV) genome. These comprise a sequence of 3274 bases correspond- ing to the 5' end of the genome, which includes the putative capsid protein region of this picornavirus, and 1590 bases corresponding to the 3' end of the genome, terminating in a 15-base poly(A) tract. These sequences revealed that HAV had the characteristic genomic organization of picornaviruses: an open reading frame beginning approximately 750 bases from the 5' end of the RNA and a termination codon 60 bases from the 3' poly(A) tract. The predicted amino acid sequences of both regions have been compared to analogous regions previ- ously determined for other picornaviruses. There was suf- ficient homology to conclude that the 5' region of HAV codes for capsid proteins and that the 3' region codes for an RNA polymerase. However, these regions of HAV were not found to be closely related to analogous regions of poliovirus, enceph- alomyocarditis virus, and foot and mouth disease virus.