Structural polypeptides of California encephalitis virus: BFS-283.

The polypepetides of California encephalitis virus (BFS-283) were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Four polypeptides were detected in virions grown in both BHK-21 and LLC-MK2 cell cultures with molecular weights of 17,500. 30,000, 38,000, and 82,000 (VP-1, VP-2, VP-3, and VP-4, respectively). Viral proteins 2, 3, and 4 were glycoproteins and appeared to be associated with the envelope of the virus. Treatment of virions (rho=1.18 g/cm3) with then non-ionic detergent, NP-40, allowed detection of a RNA-rich fraction (rho=1.26/cm3) with contained the smallest polypeptides (VP-1).