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Complete sequence and genomic analysis of murine gammaherpesvirus 68.

ABSTRACT: Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (gammaHV68) infects mice, thus providing a tractable small-animal model for analysis of the acute and chronic pathogenesis of gammaherpesviruses. To facilitate molecular analysis of gammaHV68 pathogenesis, we have sequenced the gammaHV68 genome. The genome contains 118,237 bp of unique sequence flanked by multiple copies of a 1,213-bp terminal repeat. The GC content of the unique portion of the genome is 46%, while the GC content of the terminal repeat is 78%. The unique portion of the genome is estimated to encode at least 80 genes and is largely colinear with the genomes of Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV; also known as human herpesvirus 8), herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). We detected 63 open reading frames (ORFs) homologous to HVS and KSHV ORFs and used the HVS/KSHV numbering system to designate these ORFs. gammaHV68 shares with HVS and KSHV ORFs homologous to a complement regulatory protein (ORF 4), a D-type cyclin (ORF 72), and a G-protein-coupled receptor with close homology to the interleukin-8 receptor (ORF 74). One ORF (K3) was identified in gammaHV68 as homologous to both ORFs K3 and K5 of KSHV and contains a domain found in a bovine herpesvirus 4 major immediate-early protein. We also detected 16 methionine-initiated ORFs predicted to encode proteins at least 100 amino acids in length that are unique to gammaHV68 (ORFs M1 to 14). ORF M1 has striking homology to poxvirus serpins, while ORF M11 encodes a potential homolog of Bcl-2-like molecules encoded by other gammaherpesviruses (gene 16 of HVS and KSHV and the BHRF1 gene of EBV). In addition, clustered at the left end of the unique region are eight sequences with significant homology to bacterial tRNAs. The unique region of the genome contains two internal repeats: a 40-bp repeat located between bp 26778 and 28191 in the genome and a 100-bp repeat located between bp 98981 and 101170. Analysis of the gammaHV68, HVS, EBV, and KSHV genomes demonstrated that each of these viruses have large colinear gene blocks interspersed by regions containing virus-specific ORFs. Interestingly, genes associated with EBV cell tropism, latency, and transformation are all contained within these regions encoding virus-specific genes. This finding suggests that pathogenesis-associated genes of gammaherpesviruses, including gammaHV68, may be contained in similarly positioned genome regions. The availability of the gammaHV68 genomic sequence will facilitate analysis of critical issues in gammaherpesvirus biology via integration of molecular and pathogenetic studies in a small-animal model.

SUBMITTER: Virgin HW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC191845 | biostudies-other | 1997 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Complete sequence and genomic analysis of murine gammaherpesvirus 68.

Virgin H W HW Latreille P P Wamsley P P Hallsworth K K Weck K E KE Dal Canto A J AJ Speck S H SH

Journal of virology 19970801 8

Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (gammaHV68) infects mice, thus providing a tractable small-animal model for analysis of the acute and chronic pathogenesis of gammaherpesviruses. To facilitate molecular analysis of gammaHV68 pathogenesis, we have sequenced the gammaHV68 genome. The genome contains 118,237 bp of unique sequence flanked by multiple copies of a 1,213-bp terminal repeat. The GC content of the unique portion of the genome is 46%, while the GC content of the terminal repeat is 78%. The uniq ...[more]

PMID: 9223479

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Project description:Herpesviruses are a large group of DNA viruses infecting mainly vertebrates. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) is often used as a model in studies of the pathogenesis of clinically important human gammaherpesviruses such as Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. This rodent virus appears to be geographically widespread; however, its natural transmission cycle is unknown. Following detection of MHV68 in field-collected ticks, including isolation of the virus from tick salivary glands and ovaries, we investigated whether MHV68 is a tick-borne virus. Uninfected Ixodes ricinus ticks were shown to acquire the virus by feeding on experimentally infected laboratory mice. The virus survived tick molting, and the molted ticks transmitted the virus to uninfected laboratory mice on which they subsequently fed. MHV68 was isolated from the tick salivary glands, consistent with transmission via tick saliva. The virus survived in ticks without loss of infectivity for at least 120 days, and subsequently was transmitted vertically from one tick generation to the next, surviving more than 500 days. Furthermore, the F1 generation (derived from F0 infected females) transmitted MHV68 to uninfected mice on which they fed, with MHV68 M3 gene transcripts detected in blood, lung, and spleen tissue of mice on which F1 nymphs and F1 adults engorged. These experimental data fulfill the transmission criteria that define an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), the largest biological group of viruses. Currently, African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the only DNA virus recognized as an arbovirus. Like ASFV, MHV68 showed evidence of pathogenesis in ticks. Previous studies have reported MHV68 in free-living ticks and in mammals commonly infested with I. ricinus, and neutralizing antibodies to MHV68 have been detected in large mammals (e.g., deer) including humans. Further studies are needed to determine if these reports are the result of tick-borne transmission of MHV68 in nature, and whether humans are at risk of infection.

Dataset Information

Complete sequence and genomic analysis of murine gammaherpesvirus 68.

Publications

Complete sequence and genomic analysis of murine gammaherpesvirus 68.

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