title: The early UL3 gene of equine herpesvirus-1 encodes a tegument protein not essential for replication or virulence in the mouse.
abstract: The UL3 gene of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is retained in the genome of defective interfering particles and encodes a ~33kDa myristylated protein. Further characterization showed that the UL3 gene is trans-activated only by the sole immediate early (IE) protein and encodes an early protein that is dispensable for EHV-1 replication and localizes in the tegument of purified virions. UL3-deleted EHV-1 (vL11ΔUL3) exhibits properties of host cell tropism, plaque size, and growth kinetics similar to those of the parental virus. Expression levels of EHV-1 proteins representative of all three gene classes in vL11ΔUL3-infected cells were identical to those in cells infected with parental virus. Mice intranasally infected with vL11ΔUL3 and parental virus showed no significant difference in mortality or virus lung titers. These findings suggest that the UL3 protein does not play a major role in the biology of EHV-1 in cell culture or virulence in the mouse.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular and Tumor Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA 71130-3932, USA.
authors.forename: Byung Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Seongman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yunfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Charvat
authors.forename: Dennis J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D004861:Herpesvirus 1, Equid / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C076116:UL3 protein, Equine herpesvirus 1