Characterization of Trichomonas vaginalis virus proteins in the pathogenic protozoan T-vaginalis

The 4.6-kb double-stranded (ds) RNA of Trichomonas vaginalis virus (TVV)-T1 has been shown to encode two overlapping genes, cap and pol. In this study, a serum for specifically detecting viral cap gene product was raised against a recombinant protein, and sera for specifically detecting pol gene product were raised against synthetic oligopeptides. A 75-kDa major protein and a 160-kDa minor protein were detected by anti-CAP serum in a TVV-T1 sample, indicating that the 75-kDa protein is the viral capsid protein. The 160-kDa protein alone was also detected by two distinct anti-POL sera, indicating that the pol gene is expressed as a CAP-POL fusion protein. These results suggest that the TVV-T1 genome is arranged into a cap-pol organization in a manner similar to that of viruses in family Totiviridae.