RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Huang, Jianhe A1 Levin, David B. YR 1999 T1 Identification and functional analysis of a putative non-hr origin of DNA replication from the Spodoptera littoralis type B multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus JF Journal of General Virology, VO 80 IS 8 SP 2263 OP 2274 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-80-8-2263 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB A putative non-hr origin of DNA replication was identified in the Spodoptera littoralis multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpliNPV) genome by transient replication assays. The putative SpliNPV ori was mapped to the PstI-J fragment between 75·1–77·9 map units in the SpliNPV genome. While the DNA sequence of the putative SpliNPV ori aligned with regions within the non-hr oris of Autographa californica, Orgyia pseudotsugata and Spodoptera exigua multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedroviruses, it has limited DNA sequence identity with these elements. The sequence of the putative SpliNPV non-hr ori fragment contains a unique distribution of imperfect palindromes, multiple direct repeats and putative transcription factor-binding sites. Transient expression assays indicated that the putative SpliNPV ori fragment repressed SpliNPV lef-3 promoter-mediated luciferase reporter gene expression. However, the putative SpliNPV ori fragment itself was capable of directing luciferase expression in the absence of a recognizable baculovirus promoter element in an orientation-independent fashion, suggesting that DNA sequence motifs within its sequence can activate transcription. Gel mobility shift analyses confirmed that proteins within nuclear extracts from both uninfected and virus-infected cells bound with specificity to the putative SpliNPV ori fragment., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-80-8-2263