Bovine herpesvirus type 1 glycoprotein H is essential for penetration and propagation in cell culture.
Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) glycoprotein H (gH) is a structural component of the virion which forms a complex with glycoprotein gL. To study the role of BHV-1 gH in the virus infectious cycle, a gH null mutant was constructed in which the gH coding sequences were deleted and replaced by the Escherichia coli lacZ cassette. The BHV-1 gH null mutant was propagated in trans-complementing MDBK cells, stably transfected with plasmid pMEP4 containing the BHV-1 gH gene under the control of the inducible mouse metallothionein promoter. Experiments with the BHV-1 gH null mutant showed that gH is essential in the infectious cycle of the virus and is specifically involved in virus entry and cell-to-cell spread. The lack of infectivity of virions devoid of gH is not due to a defect in attachment. Moreover, PEG-induced fusion of virions to target cells provides evidence that BHV-1 gH is required for virion penetration.
Virology-Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Belgium.
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G
Meyer
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Hanon
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D
Georlette
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Pastoret
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Thiry
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D007242:Herpesvirus 1, Bovine / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D016296:Mutagenesis; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication
D014764:Viral Proteins; C046998:bovine herpesvirus type-1 glycoproteins