Abstract
BackgroundBovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a useful model for the human pathogenic gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus. Although genome manipulations of this virus have been greatly facilitated by the cloning of the BoHV-4 V.test strain as a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC), the lack of a complete genome sequence for this strain limits its experimental use.MethodsIn this study, we have determined the complete sequence of BoHV-4 V.test strain by a pyrosequencing approach.ResultsThe long unique coding region (LUR) consists of 108,241 bp encoding at least 79 open reading frames and is flanked by several polyrepetitive DNA units (prDNA). As previously suggested, we showed that the prDNA unit located at the left prDNA-LUR junction (prDNA-G) differs from the other prDNA units (prDNA-inner). Namely, the prDNA-G unit lacks the conserved pac-2 cleavage and packaging signal in its right terminal region. Based on the mechanisms of cleavage and packaging of herpesvirus genomes, this feature implies that only genomes bearing left and right end prDNA units are encapsulated into virions.ConclusionsIn this study, we have determined the complete genome sequence of the BAC-cloned BoHV-4 V.test strain and identified genome organization features that could be important in other herpesviruses.
Highlights
Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a useful model for the human pathogenic gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus
Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) sequencing and genome assembly Pyrosequencing of herpesviral genomes is often limited by the high concentration of contaminating cellular DNA [32]
We assembled the complete long unique region (LUR) of the V.test strain BoHV-4 genome into a 108,241 bp sequence
Summary
Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a useful model for the human pathogenic gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus. Gammaherpesviruses are archetypal persistent viruses which are ubiquitous in both human and animal populations. The human gammaherpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV), infect respectively some 90% [1] and 30% [2] of human populations and cause several cancers [2,3]. Much effort has been invested on these viruses, studies of EBV or KSHV are difficult to perform directly because these viruses show limited lytic growth in vitro and have no well-established in vivo infection model. To its human counterparts, BoHV-4 was found to be widespread in all bovine populations and to persist in the vast majority of individuals as a lifelong, asymptomatic infection [5].
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