A novel homologue of Human herpesvirus 6 in chimpanzees.
Among the Betaherpesvirinae, human cytomegalovirus is the only virus to possess simian homologues. Indeed, intriguingly, no close simian homologue of the roseoloviruses Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), the other two human members of the Betaherpesvirinae, has been identified to date. Here, the first simian homologue of HHV-6 is described, which was identified in common chimpanzees and designated PanHV6. By using a degenerate consensus PCR method, three different gene fragments were amplified, corresponding to the DNA polymerase (U38), beta-chemokine receptor (U12) and viral transactivator (U42) genes, with 94-96 % (nucleotide) and 95-97 % (amino acid) sequence identity to the corresponding genes of HHV-6B. Analysis of 77 predominantly wild-caught chimpanzees identified a unique PanHV6 strain in 21 animals, with no viral sequence variation between the different chimpanzee subspecies that were found to be infected. Characterization of this virus represents a great potential to gain a better understanding of the diseases associated with HHV-6.
Lacoste
Vincent
V
Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes, Département EEMI, Bâtiment Lwoff, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
Verschoor
Ernst J
EJ
Department of Virology, Biomedical Primate Research Center (BPRC), Lange Kleiweg 139, 2288 GJ Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
Nerrienet
Eric
E
Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, BP 1274, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Gessain
Antoine
A
Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes, Département EEMI, Bâtiment Lwoff, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
D000818:Animals; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000821:virology*; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics
D019707:Receptors, Chemokine; D015534:Trans-Activators; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase