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Journal of Virology, April 2000, p. 3388-3398, Vol. 74, No. 7
New England Primate Research Center, Harvard
Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772-9102
Received 27 September 1999/Accepted 21 December 1999
The primary sequence of the long unique region L-DNA (L for low GC)
of rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) isolate 26-95 was determined. The
L-DNA consists of 130,733 bp that contain 84 open reading frames
(ORFs). The overall organization of the RRV26-95 genome was found to be
very similar to that of human Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus
(KSHV). BLAST search analysis revealed that in almost all cases
RRV26-95 coding sequences have a greater degree of similarity to
corresponding KSHV sequences than to other herpesviruses. All of the
ORFs present in KSHV have at least one homologue in RRV26-95 except K3
and K5 (bovine herpesvirus-4 immediate-early protein homologues), K7
(nut-1), and K12 (Kaposin). RRV26-95 contains one MIP-1 and eight
interferon regulatory factor (vIRF) homologues compared to three MIP-1
and four vIRF homologues in KSHV. All homologues are correspondingly
located in KSHV and RRV with the exception of dihydrofolate reductase
(DHFR). DHFR is correspondingly located near the left end of the genome
in RRV26-95 and herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), but in KSHV the DHFR gene is
displaced 16,069 nucleotides in a rightward direction in the genome.
DHFR is also unusual in that the RRV26-95 DHFR more closely resembles
HVS DHFR (74% similarity) than KSHV DHFR (55% similarity). Of the 84 ORFs in RRV26-95, 83 contain sequences similar to the recently
determined sequences of the independent RRV isolate 17577. RRV26-95 and
RRV17577 sequences differ in that ORF 67.5 sequences contained in
RRV26-95 were not found in RRV17577. In addition, ORF 4 is
significantly shorter in RRV26-95 than was reported for RRV17577 (395 versus 645 amino acids). Only four of the corresponding ORFs between
RRV26-95 and RRV17577 exhibited less than 95% sequence identity:
glycoproteins H and L, uracil DNA glucosidase, and a tegument protein
(ORF 67). Both RRV26-95 and RRV17577 have unique ORFs between positions 21444 to 21752 and 110910 to 114899 in a rightward direction and from
positions 116524 to 111082 in a leftward direction that are not found
in KSHV. Our analysis indicates that RRV26-95 and RRV17577 are clearly
independent isolates of the same virus species and that both are
closely related in structural organization and overall sequence to
KSHV. The availability of detailed sequence information, the ability to
grow RRV lytically in cell culture, and the ability to infect monkeys
experimentally with RRV will facilitate the construction of mutant
strains of virus for evaluating the contribution of individual genes to
biological properties.
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The Primary Sequence of Rhesus Monkey Rhadinovirus Isolate 26-95:
Sequence Similarities to Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus
and Rhesus Monkey Rhadinovirus Isolate 17577
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: New England
Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, One Pine Hill Dr., Southborough, MA 01772-9102. Phone: (508) 624-8040. Fax: (508)
624-8190. E-mail: ronald_desrosiers{at}hms.harvard.edu.
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