Cloning and Sequence Analysis of the gp41 Gene of Clanis bilineata Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus

Clanis bilineata Nucleo Polyhedro Virus (CbNPV) was purified from Clanis bilineata larva. To obtain the molecular information of the virus, the genomic DNA of CbNPV was extracted, and a DNA fragment library of the virus was constructed using shotgun. The positive clones were then sequenced and analyzed. An open-reading frame (ORF) that was high identity with the gp41 gene of most NPVs was found in the library. The gp41 gene of CbNPV is 933 base pair long and encodes a protein of 310 amino acids. The result of the amino acid sequence analysis showed that the CbNPV gp41 has 53–61 and 56–73% identities with Group I and II NPVs gp41 proteins, respectively. The result indicates that the isolated CbNPV is a novel baculovirus, and the CbNPV shares a much closer relationship with Group II NPVs.