[01] Md. Zakir Hossain, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. [02] Rozina Akter, BioMedNano Research Institute, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

The recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZikaV), which is transmitted through Aedes mosquitoes, is an emerging arbovirus, poses global health concern. Currently, there are no effective vaccinations or proven therapeutics that specifically targets the complete ZikaV genomes. To design an effective antiviral therapeutics for ZikaV, the complete genomes should be targeted along with its possible functions. Since promoters are most important regulatory regions for gene expression, identification of putative promoters are vital. The promoter is a short segment of DNA sequence where RNA polymerase first attaches. It forms a recognition and binding site for the RNA polymerase. In addition, it is asymmetrical and thus indicating the site of initiation and direction of transcription. To date, there is no reported data available for the identification and characterization of promoter sequence in complete ZikaV genomes. By considering the limited data on putative promoter motifs of complete ZikaV genome, our study was designed to identify, characterize and investigate the putative promoter motifs in two complete Zika viral strains (ZikaV isolate SSABR1 and second, Brazil-ZKV2015). In fact, the promoter sequences were identified in both of the two complete ZikaV genomes. Further, the significant promoters name, sequence, weight and locations were also noted. Thus, in silico identification of putative promoter motifs in the two complete ZikaV genomes were studied. Therefore, ZikaV promoters study can be helpful to understand the regulation of ZikaV genes and their functions, which eventually will lead to develop live attenuated ZikaV vaccines and gene therapy.

ZikaVirus, Genome, Promoters, Transcription Factors, Vaccines, Gene Therapy

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