HSV-1 virulence for mice by the intracerebral route is encoded by the BamHI-L DNA fragment containing the cell fusion gene.
The phenotype of pathogenicity by direct intracerebral inoculation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was mapped in the viral genome. This phenotype could be rescued by cotransfection of unit length HSV-1 DNA of an avirulent strain with the BamHI fragment L (0.70-0.738 map units) cloned from a virulent strain. The virulence function was localized in the 2.0 Kb NruI-BamHI fragment in the right-hand side of BamHI-L, the same region that encodes a virus cell-fusion gene (3). Transduction of virulence was linked with the phenotype of a larger plaque size. It is concluded that a neurovirulence function resides in the BamHI-L fragment of the HSV-1 genome, closely linked to the viral gene for cell fusion.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology*; D002459:Cell Fusion; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D010641:Phenotype; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014162:Transfection; D014774:Virulence
D004279:DNA, Viral; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D015245:Deoxyribonuclease BamHI