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Journal of Virology, October 2001, p. 8927-8936, Vol. 75, No. 19
Institutes of Molecular
Biology1 and
Infectology,2
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institutes, Federal Research Centre for Virus
Diseases of Animals, D-17498 Insel Riems, Germany
Received 10 May 2001/Accepted 25 June 2001
Herpesvirus envelopment is a two-step process which includes
acquisition of a primary envelope resulting from budding of
intranuclear capsids through the inner nuclear membrane. Fusion with
the outer leaflet of the nuclear membrane releases nucleocapsids into
the cytoplasm, which then gain their final envelope by budding into trans-Golgi vesicles. It has been shown that the UL34
gene product is required for primary envelopment of the
alphaherpesvirus pseudorabies virus (PrV) (B. G. Klupp, H. Granzow, and T. C. Mettenleiter, J. Virol.
74:10063-10073, 2000). For secondary envelopment, several virus-encoded PrV proteins are necessary, including glycoproteins E, I,
and M (A. R. Brack, J. M. Dijkstra, H. Granzow, B. G. Klupp, and T. C. Mettenleiter, J. Virol.
73:5364-5372, 1999). We show here that the product of the
UL37 gene of PrV, which is a constituent of mature virions, is involved
in secondary envelopment. Replication of a UL37 deletion mutant,
PrV-
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.19.8927-8936.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Pseudorabies Virus UL37 Gene Product Is Involved in
Secondary Envelopment
UL37, was impaired in normal cells; this defect could be
complemented on cells stably expressing UL37. Ultrastructural analysis
demonstrated that intranuclear capsid maturation and budding of capsids
into and release from the perinuclear space were unimpaired. However,
secondary envelopment was drastically reduced. Instead, apparently
DNA-filled capsids accumulated in the cytoplasm in large aggregates
similar to those observed in the absence of glycoproteins E/I
and M but lacking the surrounding electron-dense tegument material.
Although displaying an ordered structure, capsids did not contact each
other directly. We postulate that the UL37 protein is necessary for
correct addition of other tegument proteins, which are required for
secondary envelopment. In the absence of the UL37 protein, capsids
interact with each other through unknown components but do not acquire
the electron-dense tegument which is normally found around wild-type
capsids during and after secondary envelopment. Thus, apposition of the
UL37 protein to cytoplasmic capsids may be crucial for the addition of
other tegument proteins, which in turn are able to interact with viral
glycoproteins to mediate secondary envelopment.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of
Molecular Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institutes, Federal Research
Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Boddenblick 5A, D-17498 Insel
Riems, Germany. Phone: 49-38351-7250. Fax: 49-38351-7151. E-mail:
mettenleiter{at}rie.bfav.de.
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