title: The Ep152R ORF of African swine fever virus strain Georgia encodes for an essential gene that interacts with host protein BAG6.
abstract: African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a contagious and often lethal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the swine industry. The viral genome encodes for more than 150 genes, and only a select few of these genes have been studied in some detail. Here we report the characterization of open reading frame Ep152R that has a predicted complement control module/SCR domain. This domain is found in Vaccinia virus proteins that are involved in blocking the immune response during viral infection. A recombinant ASFV harboring a HA tagged version of the Ep152R protein was developed (ASFV-G-Ep152R-HA) and used to demonstrate that Ep152R is an early virus protein. Attempts to construct recombinant viruses having a deleted Ep152R gene were consistently unsuccessful indicating that Ep152R is an essential gene. Interestingly, analysis of host-protein interactions for Ep152R using a yeast two-hybrid screen, identified BAG6, a protein previously identified as being required for ASFV replication. Furthermore, fluorescent microscopy analysis confirms that Ep152R-BAG6 interaction actually occurs in cells infected with ASFV.
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA.
authors: Manuel V
authors: MV
authors: Borca
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA; Departments of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors: Vivian
authors: V
authors: O'Donnell
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA.
authors: Lauren G
authors: LG
authors: Holinka
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA; Departments of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors: Devendra K
authors: DK
authors: Rai
authors: Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA.
authors: Brenton
authors: B
authors: Sanford
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA; Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Marialexia
authors: M
authors: Alfano
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA; Biosecurity Research Institute and Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
authors: Jolene
authors: J
authors: Carlson
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA; Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
authors: Paul A
authors: PA
authors: Azzinaro
authors: Department of Biotechnology, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Covadonga
authors: C
authors: Alonso
authors: Agricultural Research Service and Department of Homeland Security, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY 11944, USA. Electronic address: douglas.gladue@ars.usda.gov.
authors: Douglas P
authors: DP
authors: Gladue
mesh_terms: D000357:African Swine Fever / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D000358:African Swine Fever Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D020043:Genes, Essential; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping / Q000379:methods; D021381:Protein Transport; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013552:Swine; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: ASF; ASFV; African swine fever virus; BAG6; Viral-host interactions