title: The genome of herpesvirus saimiri C488 which is capable of transforming human T cells.
abstract: Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), the rhadinovirus prototype, is apathogenic in the persistently infected natural host, the squirrel monkey, but causes acute T cell leukemia in other New World primate species. In contrast to subgroups A and B, only strains of HVS subgroup C such as C488 are capable of transforming primary human T cells to stable antigen-independent growth in culture. Here, we report the complete 155-kb genome sequence of the transformation-competent HVS strain C488. The A+T-rich unique L-DNA of 113,027 bp encodes at least 77 open reading frames and 5 URNAs. In addition to the viral oncogenes stp and tip, only a few genes including the transactivator orf50 and the glycoprotein orf51 are highly divergent. In a series of new primary HVS isolates, the subgroup-specific divergence of the orf50/orf51 alleles was studied. In these new isolates, the orf50/orf51 alleles of the respective subgroup segregate with the stp and/or tip oncogene alleles, which are essential for transformation.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schlossgarten 4, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ensser
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thurau
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wittmann
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fickenscher
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006567:Herpesvirus 2, Saimiriine / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D012453:Saimiri / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins