Genomic characteristics of an avipoxvirus 282E4 strain

Avipoxvirus 282E4 strain was extensively applied into recombinant vaccine vector to prevent other infectious diseases. However, little information on the genomic background, functional and genetic evolutionary of the isolate 282E4 strain was clarified. The results showed that the linear genome of avipoxvirus 282E4 was 308,826 bp, containing 313 open reading frames (ORFs) and 12 new predicted ORFs. The 282E4 strain appears to encode two novel thymidine kinase proteins and two TGF-beta-like proteins that may be associated with the suppression of the host's antiviral response. Avipoxvirus 282E4 also encodes 57 ankyrin repeat proteins and 5 variola B22R-like proteins, which composed 7% of the avipoxvirus 282E4 genome. GO and KEGG analysis further revealed that 12 ORFs participate in viral transcription process, 7 ORFs may function during DNA repair, replication and biological synthesis, and ORF 208 is involved in the process of virus life cycle. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated sequences p4b and DNA polymerase of avipoxviruses gene demonstrates that avipoxvirus 282E4 strain is divergent from known FWPV isolates and is similar to shearwater poxvirus (SWPV-1) that belongs to the CNPV-like virus. Sequencing avipoxvirus 282E4 is a significant step to judge the genetic position of avipoxviruses within the larger Poxviridae phylogenetic tree and provide a new insight into the genetic background of avipoxvirus 282E4 and interspecies transmission of poxviruses, meanwhile, explanation of gene function provides theoretical foundation for vaccine design with 282E4 strain as skeleton.