title: The English strain of rat cytomegalovirus (CMV) contains a novel captured CD200 (vOX2) gene and a spliced CC chemokine upstream from the major immediate-early region: further evidence for a separate evolutionary lineage from that of rat CMV Maastricht.
abstract: Sequence data for eight genes, together with time-course Northern blotting and 3'- and 5'-RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) analysis for some mRNAs from a 12 kb region upstream from the major immediate-early (MIE) genes of the English isolate of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV), are presented. The results identified important differences compared to both murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) and the Maastricht isolate of RCMV. A striking finding is the presence of a highly conserved, rightwards-oriented homologue of the rat cellular CD200 (OX2) gene immediately to the right of the MIE region, which replaces either the leftwards-oriented AAV REP gene of RCMV (Maastricht) or the upstream spliced portions of the immediate-early 2 gene (ie2) in MCMV. From the presence of other homologues of MCMV- and RCMV-specific genes, such as the beta-chemokine MCK-2, SGG1 and an Fcgamma receptor gene, as reported here, the basic architecture of the MIE region (reported previously) and the level of IE2 and DNA polymerase (POL) protein conservation in phylogenetic analyses, it is clear that the English strain of RCMV is also a member of the genus Muromegalovirus, but is a beta-herpesvirus species that is very distinct from both MCMV and RCMV (Maastricht). Both the lack of a CD200 homologue in the other two rodent viruses and the depth of sequence divergence of the rodent CMV IE2 and POL proteins suggest that these three viruses have evolved as separate species in the genus Muromegalovirus since very early in the host rodent lineage.
authors.affiliation: Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.|Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Charité, 10098 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.affiliation: Viral Oncology Program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.|Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sandford
authors.affiliation: Viral Oncology Program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.affiliation: Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Burns
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000235:genetics*; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005814:Genes, Viral; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018146:Muromegalovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000235:genetics; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D019742:Chemokines, CC; C110265:Fcr-1 protein, Mouse cytomegalovirus 1; C069186:IE2 protein, Cytomegalovirus; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; C121663:MCK-2 protein, Mouse cytomegalovirus 1; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014764:Viral Proteins; C090370:Sgg1 protein, cytomegalovirus; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; C042739:antigens, CD200