and Hiroshi Shirasawa2 Correspondence

Six bovine papillomavirus (BPV) types and 16 putative BPV types have been reported previously. Here, the complete genome sequence of BAPV6, a novel putative BPV type isolated from cattle in Japan, was determined by using multiple-primed rolling-circle amplification. The genome consisted of 7412 bp (G+C content of 46 mol%) that encoded five early (E1, E2, E4, E6 and E7) and two late (L1 and L2) genes, but did not encode the E5 gene. The E6 protein contained a non-consensus CxxC(x)33CxxC and a consensus CxxC(x)29CxxC zinc-binding domain, and the E7 protein lacked the LxCxE motif. The nucleotide sequence of the L1 open reading frame (ORF) was related most closely (57–58 %) to the L1 ORF of member(s) of the genera Betapapillomavirus, Gammapapillomavirus and Pipapillomavirus. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete L1 ORF suggests that BAPV6 should be classified in a novel genus in the family Papillomaviridae as BPV-7. Papillomaviruses (PVs) form a highly diverse group of viruses found in most mammals and birds, and hundreds of PV types have been detected in humans. Recently, PVs have been classified into 18 genera (Alphapapillomavirus to Sigmapapillomavirus) according to nucleotide sequence diversity in the L1 open reading frame (ORF). Different genera share,60 % nucleotide sequence identity in the L1 ORF, whereas complete full-length genomes show.23%, but,43 % identity when comparing genera of the Papillomaviridae (de Villiers et al., 2004). At present, six bovine PV types (BPV-1 to-6) have been characterize