title: Bovine herpesvirus type 2 is closely related to the primate alphaherpesviruses.
abstract: Bovine herpesvirus type 2 (BoHV-2), also known as bovine mammillitis virus, is classified in the Family Herpesviridae, Subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae, and Genus Simplexvirus along with herpes simplex viruses type 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and other primate simplexviruses on the basis of similarities in 4 genes within the 15 kb U(L) 23-29 cluster. This could be explained either by a global similarity or a recombination event that brought primate herpesviral sequences into a bovine virus. Our sequences for DNA polymerase (U(L)30), a large gene adjacent to the previously identified conserved cluster, and glycoprotein G (U(S)4), a gene as distant from the cluster as possible on the circularized genome, confirm the close relationship between BoHV-2 and the primate simplexviruses, and argue for a global similarity and probably a close evolutionary relationship. Thus one can speculate that BoHV-2 may represent a greater hazard to humans than has been appreciated previously.
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ehlers
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goltz
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Ejercito
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Dasika
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Letchworth
mesh_terms: D018138:Alphaherpesvirinae / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D001911:Herpesvirus 2, Bovine / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011323:Primates / Q000821:virology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase