Characterisation of an Australian fowlpox virus carrying a near-full-length provirus of reticuloendotheliosis virus

Fowlpox virus (FWPV), which is the type member of the genus Avipoxvirus, subfamily Chordopoxvirinae, family Poxviridae, can lead to significant losses to the poultry industry. Although a large number of fowlpox virus genomes have been sequenced and characterised globally, there are no sequences available at the genomic level from Australian isolates. Here, we present the first complete genome sequence of a fowlpox virus vaccine strain (FWPV-S) containing an integrated near-full-length reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) provirus. The genome of FWPV-S showed the highest sequence similarity to a fowlpox virus from the USA (97.74% identity). The FWPV-S genome contained 16 predicted unique genes, while a further two genes were fragmented compared to previously reported FWPV genome sequences. Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that FWPV-S was most closely related to other fowlpox viruses. This is the first reported genome sequence of FWPV from Australia.