title: Genetic variability of human cytomegalovirus UL132 gene in strains from infected infants.
abstract: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) displays genetic polymorphisms. HCMV infects a number of organs and cell types, leading to the hypothesis that HCMV disease and tissue tropism may be related to specific sequence variability. A gene in UL/b' of HCMV, UL132 open reading frame (ORF), encodes glycoprotein (gpUL132) which is identified as a low-abundance structural component of HCMV. In this study, the sequence variability of the UL132 gene was studied in 30 clinical strains. The results showed that a large number of nucleotide non-synonymous substitutions occurred in the UL132 ORF, particularly in the 5' half, in comparison to the UL132 of reference strain, Toledo. The UL132 variants of the clinical strains were clustered clearly into three major groups in the phylogenetic tree: G1(10/30), G2(9/30), and G3(11/30). The precise definition of UL132 genotypes and their putative functions would be helpful in a better understanding of the HCMV.
authors.affiliation: Virus Laboratory, 2nd Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, No. 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang 110004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zheng Rong
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yao Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yan Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Zhi Qin
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Yu Jing
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yue Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015678:Viral Structural Proteins