Glycoprotein M of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) is nonessential for replication in cell culture and is involved in inhibition of bovine respiratory syncytial virus F protein induced syncytium formation in recombinant BHV-1 infected cells.
Cell cultures infected with BHV-1/F(syn), a recombinant bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) which expresses a synthetic open reading frame encoding the fusion (F) protein of the bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), showed a cytopathic effect (CPE) indistinguishable from that induced by wildtype BHV-1 although transient transfection experiments demonstrated that expression of the F protein leads to formation of large syncytia. Since it has been shown that glycoprotein M (gM) of pseudorabies virus inhibits BRSV F-induced syncytium formation in transient plasmid transfection experiments [Pseudorbies virus glycoprotein M inhibits membrane fusion. J. Virol. 74 (2000) 6760], the gM ORF of wtBHV-1 and BHV-1/F(syn) was interrupted. Infection of cell cultures with the resulting gM(-) mutant of BHV-1/F(syn) led to formation of syncytia, whereas the CPE in gM(-)BHV-1 infected cells was comparable to the CPE in wtBHV-1 infected cultures. Our results demonstrate that gM is not essential for BHV-1 replication in cell culture and that gM is involved in inhibition of the cell fusion activity of the BHV-1 expressed BRSV F protein.
König
Patricia
P
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Bundesforschungsanstalt für Viruskrankheiten der Tiere, Insel Riems, Germany.
Giesow
Katrin
K
Keil
Günther M
GM
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D007242:Herpesvirus 1, Bovine / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014162:Transfection; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*
D004279:DNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins