Identification and characterisation of an early/late bi-directional promoter of the capripoxvirus, lumpy skin disease virus

Summary

Identification and characterisation of an early/late bi-directional promoter element of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is described. The 56 bp element shows substantial structural similarities with other poxvirus promoters, providing further evidence that transcriptional elements are conserved within the Poxviridae. The relative strengths of the LSDV early and late promoters were compared to the vaccinia virus (VV) P7.5K and P11K promoters in transient expression assays. These transient assays also verified the temporally regulated nature of the promoter. Favourable expression levels suggest that the identified LSDV promoters could be used for expressing foreign genes in a recombinant LSDV system.