title: Comparative analysis of a conserved gene block from the genome of the members of the genus ictalurivirus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Partial genome sequences were determined and subjected to comparative analyses from two fish herpesviruses (HVs). Acipenserid (Aci) HV-2, originating from the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), and ictalurid (Ic) HV-2, isolated from the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas), are recently approved species of the genus Ictalurivirus of the family Alloherpesviridae.
  
  
  METHODS
  An almost 8,000-base-pair fragment, spanning between the genes of the DNA polymerase and the ATPase subunit of the terminase, was sequenced from each virus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The size, position and orientation of 2 partial and 3 full open reading frames, contained in the studied genome fragment, proved to be similar to their counterparts in IcHV-1, the type species of the genus Ictalurivirus. Thus, a well-conserved genus-specific gene block was identified. In the members of two other genera (Cyprinivirus and Batrachovirus) of the family Alloherpesviridae, no such gene block could be found; the location and orientation of the homologous genes showed significant divergence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of phylogenetic calculations were in good agreement with the genome arrangements inasmuch as AciHV-2, IcHV-1 and -2 are monophyletic and separated from the lineages of the other two genera. The new sequence enabled the inclusion of a hitherto unassigned HV, that of the Australian pilchard, into a phylogenetic calculation.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
authors.forename: Andor
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doszpoly
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benko
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bovo
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Lapatra
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harrach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000235:genetics; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000821:virology; D005814:Genes, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D052656:Ictalurivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; C030894:terminase