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J Virol, May 1998, p. 4237-4242, Vol. 72, No. 5
Department of Microbiology and
Immunology1 and
The James A. Baker
Institute for Animal Health,3 New York State
College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
14853, and
Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado 80523-16712
Received 26 November 1997/Accepted 22 January 1998
Degenerate PCR primers which amplify a conserved region of the DNA
polymerase genes of the herpesvirus family were used to provide
sequence evidence for a new bovine herpesvirus in bovine B-lymphoma
cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The sequence of
the resultant amplicon was found to be distinct from those of known
herpesvirus isolates. Alignment of amino acid sequences demonstrated
70% identity with ovine herpesvirus 2, 69% with alcelaphine
herpesvirus 1, 65% with bovine herpesvirus 4, and 42% with bovine
herpesvirus 1. Phylogenetic analysis placed this putative virus within
the tumorigenic Gammaherpesvirinae subfamily, and it is
tentatively identified as bovine lymphotropic herpesvirus. This novel
agent was expressed in vitro from infected PBMC, and cell-free
supernatants were used to transfer infection to a bovine B-cell line,
BL3. Analysis, with specific PCR primers, of DNA from bovine PBMC and
lymphoma cells identified infection in blood of 91% of adult animals
(n = 101), 63% of lymphomas (n = 32), and 38% of juveniles (n = 13). Of the adults,
herpesvirus infection was present in 94% of animals that were
seropositive for bovine leukemia virus (BLV) (n = 63)
and in 87% of BLV-seronegative animals (n = 38). Of
the seropositive group, 17 animals exhibited persistent lymphocytosis,
and 100% of these were herpesvirus positive by PCR. A role for bovine
lymphotropic herpesvirus as a cofactor in BLV pathogenesis is
considered.
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Detection of a Novel Bovine Lymphotropic
Herpesvirus

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, Box
Present address: Department of Medical Pathology, University of
California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616.
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