title: Identification and DNA sequence analysis of the Marek's disease virus serotype 2 genes homologous to the thymidine kinase and UL24 genes of herpes simplex virus type 1.
abstract: The thymidine kinase (TK) gene has been used as a safe and convenient locus for expression of heterologous proteins in some alphaherpesviruses including herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) antigenically related to Marek's disease virus (MDV) serotypes 1 (MDV1) and 2 (MDV2). In MDV2 strain HPRS 24 genome, genes equivalent to the TK and UL24 homologues of herpes simplex virus type 1 were identified and sequenced. The MDV2 UL24 gene overlaps the 5' end of the TK gene in a head-to-head orientation. The predicted region encoding for the MDV2 TK gene is 1,056 nucleotides, corresponding to a polypeptide of 352 amino acids in length. Putative nucleotide- and thymidine-binding sites were identified within the predicted amino acid sequence. The predicted region encoding for the UL24 gene is 948 nucleotides, corresponding to a polypeptide of 316 amino acids in length. By northern blot analyses using MDV2 TK- and UL24-specific DNA probes, four transcripts of approximately 7.8, 5.0, 3.5, and 1.1 kb for the TK gene, and a transcript of 3.8 kb for the UL24 gene were detected in MDV2-infected cells. Alignment of the amino acid sequence of MDV2 TK homologue with those published for TK homologues of other MDV serotypes showed 73.9% (MDV1 vs. MDV2), 58.2% (MDV1 vs. HVT), and 56.8% (MDV2 vs. HVT) identities. Comparison to other alphaherpesvirus TK homologues revealed amino acid sequence homologies varying from 34.5% to 27.8%. The putative MDV2 UL24 homologous protein had identity with the well conserved five motifs among alphaherpesviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimojima
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tohya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mikami
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008381:Herpesvirus 2, Gallid / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012703:Serotyping; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000235:genetics*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; C086267:UL24 protein, Human herpesvirus 1; D014764:Viral Proteins; D013937:Thymidine Kinase