Molecular analysis of the duck plague virus US10 gene and its encoding protein

In the past years, a number of conventional and advanced bioinformatics methods have been employed for predicting gene structure and function. Here, we used many bioinformatics softwares to analyse the duck plague virus US10 gene (GenBank accession number: EU195084). The results indicated that this gene encoded an estimated 322 putative protein, contained the conserved domain of the Gene66 (IR5) protein. The protein found many functional sites, but without any transmembrane region and signal peptide. Secondary structure prediction showed that random coil (52.48%) and alpha helix (44.10%) had a high proportion. Analysis of the antigenicity indicated that in the position of 28-44, 100-120 and 302-322 amino acids distributed the most likely epitopes. Phylogenetic tree of the amino acids sequences showed this gene had a closer evolutionary relationship with Mardivirus. These results provided rational data to elucidate biological function and physiological features of the gene and its encoding protein.