title: Genetic linkage among human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein N (gN) and gO genes, with evidence for recombination from congenitally and post-natally infected Japanese infants.
abstract: Investigation of sequence polymorphisms in the glycoprotein N (gN; gp4273), gO (gp4274) and gH (gp4275) genes of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains collected from 63 Japanese children revealed that their gO genotype distribution differed slightly from that of Caucasian populations and that there was a significant linkage between the gN and gO genotypes. Linkage of these genotypes in strains obtained from Caucasian populations has been reported, so our similar findings in Japanese infants are consistent with this, and suggest generality of this linkage. Sequence analysis suggests that recombination between two strains of different linkage groups occurred approximately 200 bp upstream of the 3'-end of the gO gene. Further studies are required to elucidate differences in biological characteristics among the linkage groups and the selective constraints that maintain the linkage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Medical Sciences, Institute of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.|Department of Virology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hainian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Asahikawa Medical College, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koyano
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuhki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inami
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzutani
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Medical Sciences, Institute of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Medical Sciences, Institute of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ushijima
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurane
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inoue