Molecular evolution of human paramyxoviruses

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Abstract
The nucleotide sequences of the NP and M genes of human parainfluenza type 1 virus (HPIV-1) were determined. The NP gene was 1677 nucleotides long excluding polyadenylic acid. The NP gene contained a single large open reading frame (ORF), which encoded a polypeptide of 524 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 57,736. The M gene 1173 nucleotides long excluding the poly(A) tract and the sequence also contained a single large ORF which encoded a polypeptide of 348 amino acid with a molecular weight of 38,445, which was inconsistent with 28 kDa previously determined by SDS-PAGE. We aligned the deduced HPIV-1 NP and M protein sequences with 12 and 13 other paramyxoviruses, respectively, suggesting that a common tertiary structure was found in the NPs or Ms of HPIV-1, Sendai virus (SV), HPIV-3 and BPIV-3 and that other common structure was also maintained in these proteins of HPIV-2, SV 41 and 5, MuV, HPIV-4. Phylogenetic trees were constructed for the NP and M proteins of all the paramyxoviruses of which nucleotide sequences had been previously reported. Paramyxoviruses could be subdivided into two groups, i.e., PIV-1 group and PIV-2 group; the former group is composed of HPIV-1, SV, HPIV-3 and BPIV-3, and the latter group consists of HPIV-2, SV 41, SV 5, MuV, HPIV-4 A and HPIV-4 B.