title: The genome of herpesvirus of turkeys: comparative analysis with Marek's disease viruses.
abstract: The complete coding sequence of the herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) unique long (U(L)) region along with the internal repeat regions has been determined. This allows completion of the HVT nucleotide sequence by linkage to the sequence of the unique short (U(S)) region. The genome is approximately 160 kbp and shows extensive similarity in organization to the genomes of Marek's disease virus serotypes 1 and 2 (MDV-1, MDV-2) and other alphaherpesviruses. The HVT genome contains 75 ORFs, with three ORFs present in two copies. Sixty-seven ORFs were identified readily as homologues of other alphaherpesvirus genes. Seven of the remaining eight ORFs are homologous to genes in MDV, but are absent from other herpesviruses. These include a gene with similarity to cellular lipases. The final, HVT-unique gene is a virus homologue of the cellular NR-13 gene, the product of which belongs to the Bcl family of proteins that regulate apoptosis. No other herpesvirus sequenced to date contains a homologue of this gene. Of potential significance is the absence of a complete block of genes within the HVT internal repeat that is present in MDV-1. These include the pp38 and meq genes, which have been implicated in MDV-1-induced T-cell lymphoma. By implication, other genes present in this region of MDV-1, but missing in HVT, may play important roles in the different biological properties of the viruses.
authors: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717, USA1.
authors: Brewster F
authors: BF
authors: Kingham
authors: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 45 Bratislava, Slovak Republic2.
authors: Vladimır
authors: V
authors: Zelnık
authors: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 45 Bratislava, Slovak Republic2.
authors: Juraj
authors: J
authors: Kopáček
authors: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 45 Bratislava, Slovak Republic2.
authors: Vladimır
authors: V
authors: Majerčiak
authors: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717, USA1.
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: Ney
authors: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717, USA1.
authors: Carl J
authors: CJ
authors: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005814:Genes, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D008381:Herpesvirus 2, Gallid / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014422:Turkeys; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins