Caraparu virus (group C Orthobunyavirus): sequencing and phylogenetic analysis based on the conserved region 3 of the RNA polymerase gene Cintia Lopes de Brito Magalha ˜es Æ Ba ´rbara Resende Quinan Æ Renata Franco Vianna Novaes Æ Joa ˜o Rodrigues dos Santos Æ Erna Geessien Kroon Æ Cla ´udio Anto ˆnio Bonjardim Æ Paulo Ce ´sar Peregrino Ferreira Received: 2 May 2007 / Accepted: 2 July 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007 Abstract Here, for the first time, we report the nucleotide sequence of Caraparu virus (CARV) L segment and the analysis of the RNA polymerase region 3 encoded by this segment. The 1,404 bp nucleotide sequence shares the highest identity with Bunyamwera, La Crosse, Oropouche, and Akabane virus sequences. The amino acid sequence was deduced and aligned with sequences from members of the Bunyaviridae family and used for phylogenetic analy- sis. The CARV clustered in the Orthobunyavirus genus. The premotif A and motifs A–E are present in the region 3 of the Bunyaviridae family, were also conserved in CARV L protein, as well as other conserved regions among Ort- hobunyavirus genus. Keywords Molecular characterization Á Caraparu virus Á Orthobunyavirus Á Bunyaviridae Á L segment Á RNA-dependent RNA polymerase Caraparu virus (CARV—BeAn 3994) is a member of group C of the Orthobunyavirus genus and Bunyaviridae family. The virus was first isolated in 1956 from a sentinel monkey (Cebus apella) at the Utinga forest, Bele ´m, Para ´ State, Brazil. Subsequently, it has been isolated from the blood of a febrile forest worker and from arthropods in the same region [1]. The genome of viruses from the Ort- hobunyavirus genus are composed of three negative sense single-stranded RNA segments, designated large (L), medium (M), and small (S) [2]. The L segment encodes the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is responsible for replication and transcription of the genome. The M segment encodes two surface glycoproteins (Gn and Gc) and a nonstructural protein (NSm). The S segment encodes the nucleocapsid (N) protein and a second non- structural protein called NSs, in overlapping reading frames [2]. Recently, molecular studies carried out with 13 viral members of group C described the S segment nucleotide (nt) sequence (915–926 bp), and a partial sequence of the M segment (345 bp). These data confirmed the previous established relationships based on serological assays [3]. The L segment sequence was reported only for the Bun- yamwera (BUNV), La Crosse (LACV), Oropouche (OROV), and Akabane (AKAV) viruses from the Ort- hobunyavirus genus. No sequence of the L segment from any group C viruses has been described to date [4–6]. The The nucleotide sequence data reported in this article have been submitted to the GenBank nucleotide sequence database: EF122411 C. L. de Brito Magalha ˜es Á B. R. Quinan Á R. F. V. Novaes Á J. R. dos Santos Á E. G. Kroon Á C. A. Bonjardim Á P. C. P. Ferreira (&) Laborato ´rio de Vı ´rus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Cie ˆncias Biolo ´gicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Anto ˆnio Carlos, 6627, Campus Pampulha, CEP: 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil e-mail: peregrino@icb.ufmg.br C. L. de Brito Magalha ˜es e-mail: cintia.magalhaes@gmail.com B. R. Quinan e-mail: quinanb@yahoo.com.br R. F. V. Novaes e-mail: franco_vianna@yahoo.com.br J. R. dos Santos e-mail: santosjr@icb.ufmg.br E. G. Kroon e-mail: kroone@icb.ufmg.br C. A. Bonjardim e-mail: claubonj@icb.ufmg.br 123 Virus Genes DOI 10.1007/s11262-007-0138-4