title: ORF23 of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 is non-essential for in vitro and in vivo infection.
abstract: Although ORF23 is conserved among gammaherpesviruses, its role during infection is unknown. Here, we studied the expression of ORF23 of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) and its role during infection. ORF23 mRNA was detected in infected cells as a late transcript. The ORF23 protein product could be expressed and detected as an N-terminally FLAG-tagged protein by Western blot and indirect immunofluorescence. To investigate the role of ORF23 in the infection cycle of a gammaherpesvirus, we constructed an ORF23 deletion mutant of MHV-68. The analysis of the ORF23 deletion mutant suggested that ORF23 of MHV-68 is neither essential for replication in cell culture nor for lytic or latent infection in vivo. A phenotype of the ORF23 deletion mutant, reflected by a moderate reduction in lytic replication and latency amplification, was only detectable in the face of direct competition to the parental virus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sattler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003333:Coronaviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D018144:Rhadinovirus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D019562:Viral Load; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins