Characterization of the Shope Fibroma Virus DNA Ligase Gene

The Shope fibroma virus (SFV) DNA ligase gene has been cloned and sequenced, and the biochemical requirements of the gene product have been determined in vitro. The SFV ligase gene maps to the BamHI L1/L2 boundary and spans 1.7 kb. The gene is predicted to encode a 559-amino-acid protein of M(r) = 63,139 which shares 45% amino acid identity with Orthopoxvirus ligases. The C-terminal two-thirds of the protein appears to encode the catalytic …