title: Human herpesvirus 6 encoded glycoprotein Q1 gene is essential for virus growth.
abstract: Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoprotein Q1 (gQ1), a unique gene in HHV-6, forms a complex with glycoproteinH (gH) and gL, which is the viral ligand for its cellular receptor, CD46. However, whether gQ1 is essential for virus growth is unknown, because a system is lacking for making gene knockouts for HHV-6. Recently, bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and E. coli mutagenesis techniques have been applied to herpesvirus investigation. Here we successfully inserted the HHV-6A genome into a BAC, and obtained reconstituted infectious virus from the HHV-6A-containing BAC DNA. Using this system, we generated a gQ1 mutant virus genome, which failed to yield reconstituted infectious virus, whereas its revertant virus could be produced, indicating that the HHV-6 gQ1 gene is essential for virus growth. Therefore, we successfully applied BAC and E. coli mutagenesis techniques to the study of HHV-6, and discovered that HHV-6 gQ1 is an essential gene for virus growth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology and Vaccinology, Division of Biomedical Research, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan.
authors.forename: Huamin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oyaizu
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeki
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamanishi
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020043:Genes, Essential; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D016296:Mutagenesis; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D008024:Ligands; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins