Journal of General Virology, Vol 80, 979-986, Copyright © 1999 by Society for General Microbiology

ARTICLES

Structure and function of the prDNA and the genomic termini of the gamma2-herpesvirus bovine herpesvirus type 4

H Broll, HJ Buhk, W Zimmermann and M Goltz
Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany.

The linear virion DNA of bovine herpesvirus type 4 (BHV-4) is flanked by tandem repeats designated polyrepetitive DNA (prDNA). To investigate the structure and functional role of the prDNA for cleavage/packaging of progeny viral DNA, the complete nucleotide sequence (2267 bp) of a cloned prDNA unit of BHV-4 was determined. Moreover, the terminal fragments of the genome and the junctions between prDNA and the central unique DNA were analysed. In order to characterize the function of the prDNA of BHV-4, a transient packaging assay was developed. The prDNA has a G+C content of 71.1%. Its structure is composed of numerous internal repeats and every unit contains the conserved sequence of the cleavage/packaging signal. A fragment of 443 bp comprising the cleavage/packaging signal was found to be sufficient for cleavage and encapsidation of replicated concatemeric viral DNA. These results suggest that prDNA is a functionally important region of the genome of BHV-4.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. E. Nixon and M. A. McVoy Terminally Repeated Sequences on a Herpesvirus Genome Are Deleted following Circularization but Are Reconstituted by Duplication during Cleavage and Packaging of Concatemeric DNA J. Virol., February 15, 2002; 76(4): 2009 - 2013. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. D. Hodge and N. D. Stow Effects of Mutations within the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 DNA Encapsidation Signal on Packaging Efficiency J. Virol., October 1, 2001; 75(19): 8977 - 8986. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Zimmermann, H. Broll, B. Ehlers, H.-J. Buhk, A. Rosenthal, and M. Goltz Genome Sequence of Bovine Herpesvirus 4, a Bovine Rhadinovirus, and Identification of an Origin of DNA Replication J. Virol., February 1, 2001; 75(3): 1186 - 1194. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				G. Donofrio, S. Cavirani, and V. L. van Santen Establishment of a cell line persistently infected with bovine herpesvirus-4 by use of a recombinant virus J. Gen. Virol., July 1, 2000; 81(7): 1807 - 1814. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				M. A. McVoy, D. E. Nixon, J. K. Hur, and S. P. Adler The Ends on Herpesvirus DNA Replicative Concatemers Contain pac2 cis Cleavage/Packaging Elements and Their Formation Is Controlled by Terminal cis Sequences J. Virol., February 1, 2000; 74(3): 1587 - 1592. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. Vanderplasschen, N. Markine-Goriaynoff, P. Lomonte, M. Suzuki, N. Hiraoka, J.-C. Yeh, F. Bureau, L. Willems, E. Thiry, M. Fukuda, et al. A multipotential beta -1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferase is encoded by bovine herpesvirus type 4 PNAS, May 23, 2000; 97(11): 5756 - 5761. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]