An electrophoretic analysis of radioactively labeled, purified, "empty" and DNA-containing infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virions revealed the presence of 25 to 33 structural (virion) polypeptides. A total of 11 of these polypeptides could be labeled with [3H]glucosamine and were identified as glycoproteins. In addition to the 25 structural polypeptides, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus infected cells also contained at least 15 nonstructural (nonvirion) polypeptides that were not present in purified virions. Expression of the viral polypeptides in infected cells was controlled temporally. Thus, most viral polypeptides could be categorized as "alpha" (immediate early), "beta" (early), or "gamma" (late) on the basis of their order of appearance in infected cells and whether their syntheses were dependent upon prior viral protein or DNA synthesis. None of the glycoproteins belongs to the alpha class, although at least one (GVP11) was synthesized in the absence of viral DNA synthesis. Serum from a cow in which infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus lesions were reactivated by dexamethasone precipitated both structural and nonstructural polypeptides.
