Genetic analysis of the bovine herpesvirus type 4 gene locus for the putative terminase

Identification of a spliced gene from duck enteritis virus encoding a protein homologous to UL15 of herpes simplex virus 1

BACKGROUND

In herpesviruses, UL15 homologue is a subunit of terminase complex responsible for cleavage and packaging of the viral genome into pre-assembled capsids. However, for duck enteritis virus (DEV), the causative agent of duck viral enteritis (DVE), the genomic sequence was not completely determined until most recently. There is limited information of this putative spliced gene and its encoding protein.

RESULTS

DEV UL15 consists of two exons with a 3.5 kilobases (kb) inron and transcribes into two transcripts: the full-length UL15 and an N-terminally truncated UL15.5. The 2.9 kb UL15 transcript encodes a protein of 739 amino acids with an approximate molecular mass of 82 kiloDaltons (kDa), whereas the UL15.5 transcript is 1.3 kb in length, containing a putative 888 base pairs (bp) ORF that encodes a 32 kDa product. We also demonstrated that UL15 gene belonged to the late kinetic class as its expression was sensitive to cycloheximide and phosphonoacetic acid. UL15 is highly conserved within the Herpesviridae, and contains Walker A and B motifs homologous to the catalytic subunit of the bacteriophage terminase as revealed by sequence analysis. Phylogenetic tree constructed with the amino acid sequences of 23 herpesvirus UL15 homologues suggests a close relationship of DEV to the Mardivirus genus within the Alphaherpesvirinae. Further, the UL15 and UL15.5 proteins can be detected in the infected cell lysate but not in the sucrose density gradient-purified virion when reacting with the antiserum against UL15. Within the CEF cells, the UL15 and/or UL15.5 localize(s) in the cytoplasm at 6 h post infection (h p. i.) and mainly in the nucleus at 12 h p. i. and at 24 h p. i., while accumulate(s) in the cytoplasm in the absence of any other viral protein.

CONCLUSIONS

DEV UL15 is a spliced gene that encodes two products encoded by 2.9 and 1.3 kb transcripts respectively. The UL15 is expressed late during infection. The coding sequences of DEV UL15 are very similar to those of alphaherpesviruses and most similar to the genus Mardivirus. The UL15 and/or UL15.5 accumulate(s) in the cytoplasm during early times post-infection and then are translocated to the nucleus at late times.

Molecular evolution of the gamma-Herpesvirinae

Genomic sequences available for members of the gamma-Herpesvirinae allow analysis of many aspects of the group's evolution. This paper examines four topics: (i) the phylogeny of the group; (ii) the histories of gamma-herpesvirus-specific genes; (iii) genomic variation of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8); and (iv) the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus types 1 and 2 (EBV-1 and EBV-2). A phylogenetic tree based on eight conserved genes has been constructed for eight gamma-herpesviruses and extended to 14 species with smaller gene sets. This gave a generally robust assignment of evolutionary relationships, with the exception of murine herpesvirus 4 (MHV-4), which could not be placed unambiguously on the tree and which has evidently experienced an unusually high rate of genomic change. The gamma-herpesviruses possess a variable complement of genes with cellular homologues. In the clearest cases these virus genes were shown to have originated from host genome lineages in the distant past. HHV-8 possesses at its left genomic terminus a highly diverse gene (K1) and at its right terminus a gene (K15) having two diverged alleles. It was proposed that the high diversity of K1 results from a positive selection on K1 and a hitchhiking effect that reduces diversity elsewhere in the genome. EBV-1 and EBV-2 differ in their alleles of the EBNA-2, EBNA-3A, EBNA-3B and EBNA-3C genes. It was suggested that EBV-1 and EBV-2 may recombine in mixed infections so that their sequences outside these genes remain homogeneous. Models for genesis of the types, by recombination between diverged parents or by local divergence from a single lineage, both present difficulties.

Genome sequence of bovine herpesvirus 4, a bovine Rhadinovirus, and identification of an origin of DNA replication

Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a gammaherpesvirus of cattle. The complete long unique coding region (LUR) of BoHV-4 strain 66-p-347 was determined by a shotgun approach. Together with the previously published noncoding terminal repeats, the entire genome sequence of BoHV-4 is now available. The LUR consists of 108,873 bp with an overall G+C content of 41.4%. At least 79 open reading frames (ORFs) are present in this coding region, 17 of them unique to BoHV-4. In contrast to herpesvirus saimiri and human herpesvirus 8, BoHV-4 has a reduced set of ORFs homologous to cellular genes. Gene arrangement as well as phylogenetic analysis confirmed that BoHV-4 is a member of the genus Rhadinovirus. In addition, an origin of replication (ori) in the genome of BoHV-4 was identified by DpnI assays. A minimum of 1.69 kbp located between ORFs 69 and 71 was sufficient to act as a cis signal for replication.