ABSTRACT
In RTBV, the genome consists of four Open reading frames (ORFs, Figure 1). Of the four, ORF I, II and IV potentially encode proteins of molecular weights of 12, 24 and 46 kDa, whereas ORF III encodes a potential protein of molecular weight 194 kDa, P194 (Qu et al. 1991, Hay et al. 1991). Only the 194 kDa protein shows homology in the derived amino acid sequence to other proteins, mainly from retroviruses and caulimoviruses (Hay et al. 1991, Covey, 1986, Qu et al. 1991, Kano et al. 1992). The analysis of the amino acid sequence of purifi ed CP has shown that it is encoded by the P194. ORF IV of RTBV is absent in other badnaviruses and exists only in RTBV (Qu et al. 1991).
