title: Sequence-based methods for identifying epidemiologically linked herpes simplex virus type 2 strains.
abstract: Traditional methods for confirming the identity of herpes simplex virus (HSV) isolates use restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). However, RFLP is less amenable to high-throughput analyses of many samples, and the extent to which small differences in RFLP patterns distinguish between different viral strains remains unclear. Viral HSV type 2 (HSV-2) DNA isolates from 14 persons experiencing a primary HSV-2 infection and from their sexual partners were analyzed by RFLP and heteroduplex mobility assays. We also compared the HSV-2 sequences from seven regions, including noncoding regions between UL19 and UL20, UL24 and UL25, UL37 and UL38, and UL41 and UL42 and coding segments of the gC, gB, and gG genes. Although the resulting RFLP patterns of the couples were almost identical, minor banding differences existed between the source and susceptible partners in five couples. Heteroduplex mobility assays were unable to distinguish between unrelated strains. Overall, 22 sites of sequence variation were found in 1,482 bp of analyzed sequence. The DNA sequences differentiated between all unrelated infections, and epidemiologically related isolates had identical sequences in all but two pairs. Our results suggest that a multilocus assay based on several DNA sequences has the potential to be an informative tool for identifying epidemiologically related HSV-2 strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, and Program in Infectious Diseases, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 600 Broadway, Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98122, USA.
authors.forename: Emily Toth
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Koelle
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Byrd
authors.forename: Meei-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wald
mesh_terms: D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000821:virology*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020180:Heteroduplex Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins