Sequence analysis of the left end of fowl adenovirus genomes.

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the left end of the genome of fowl adenoviruses (FAdV) representing species group C (FAdV-4 and -10), D (FAdV-2) and E (FAdV-8) were carried out, and the sequence data was compared to those of FAdV-1 (FAdV-A) and FAdV-9 (FAdV-D). The viruses were propagated in chicken hepatoma cell line for viral DNA isolation. Restriction endonuclease analysis was performed followed by hybridization with two DNA probes representing the left end of FAdV-9. The identified fragments were sequenced, and the generated data were compared with the GenBank database. Nucleotide sequence homology and amino acid sequence identities were high between members of the same species group, FAdV-2 and -9, and FAdV-4 and -10, whereas different degrees of variations were observed among all FAdVs. Gene arrangement and position of ORFs at the left end of FAdV genomes were largely conserved suggesting similar gene functions. All previously characterized left end ORFs in CELO virus and FAdV-9 were found in all analyzed FAdVs. However, ORF 1C was absent in FAdV-4 and -10, but additional ORFs, most likely corresponding to duplicates of ORF 14, were observed in these viruses.