Genome organization of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus

Abstract

In order to study the organization of the genome of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), we constructed a cDNA library in a phage expression vector by using poly(A) RNA from PEDV-infected Vero cells. An anti-PEDV hyperimmune serum was used to probe the library. The first isolated clone mapped within the N gene and was subsequently used for rescreening the library. The selected clones allowed us to establish the sequence of the 3'-most 7.4 kb of the PEDV genome. Analysis of the cDNA sequences revealed a 3'-coterminal nested structure, which is typical of Coronaviridae and the presence of a hexameric sequence XUA(A/G)AC upstream of each coding region. The amino acid sequences deduced from four of the five ORFs identified showed the characteristic features of the structural proteins S, M, sM and N. Only one ORF located between the S and M genes was found to potentially encode a non-structural polypeptide. Our data lead us to conclude that PEDV is a member of Coronaviridae and belongs to the same genetic subset as TGEV, FIPV and HCV 229E.