title: Detection of a unique genotype of monkey B virus (Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1) indigenous to native Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).
abstract: The Japanese macaque or snow monkey (Macaca fuscata) is an autochthonous monkey in Japan. It has long been assumed that the monkey population was not infected with Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1 (monkey B virus [BV]) since cases of human BV infection have never been reported in Japan. Although serologic testing of captive snow monkeys in Japan revealed antibodies to BV, it was thought that native Japanese macaques had either been infected with herpes simplex virus from humans or with BV from other imported macaque species. To clarify this issue, we performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to amplify BV sequences from trigeminal ganglia of 30 Japanese macaque monkeys that were seropositive for BV. Sequences from two BV genes, UL27 (360 bp) and UL19 (1.0 Kbp), from 3 of 30 monkeys were amplified. Results of restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing of the fragments provided evidence that native Japanese macaques are infected with BV. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these monkeys harbor their own genotype of BV that is different from other known BV genotypes, and provided additional evidence supporting the co-evolution of BV and macaques.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Animal Center for Biomedical Research, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: Darla H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Ryuzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torii
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eberle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006568:Herpesvirus 1, Cercopithecine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008251:Macaca / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014774:Virulence; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral; D004247:DNA