This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Xia, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cohen, J. I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Xia, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cohen, J. I.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, January 2003, p. 1211-1218, Vol. 77, No. 2
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.2.1211-1218.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Varicella-Zoster Virus Open Reading Frame 21, Which Is Expressed during Latency, Is Essential for Virus Replication but Dispensable for Establishment of Latency

Dongxiang Xia, Shamala Srinivas, Hitoshi Sato, Lesley Pesnicak, Stephen E. Straus, and Jeffrey I. Cohen*

Medical Virology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland

Received 13 August 2002/ Accepted 17 October 2002

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) open reading frame 21 (ORF21) is one of at least five VZV genes expressed in latently infected human and rodent ganglia. To determine whether ORF21 is required for latent and lytic infection, we deleted 99% of ORF21 from the viral genome. The ORF21 deletion mutant virus could be propagated only in a cell line expressing the ORF21 protein. Insertion of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) homolog of VZV ORF21, HSV-1 UL37, into the ORF21 deletion mutant failed to complement the mutant for growth in cell culture. Inoculation of cotton rats with the ORF21 deletion virus resulted in latent infection in numbers of animals similar to those infected after inoculation with the parental virus. The mean numbers of latent VZV genomes were similar in animals infected with parental and ORF21 deletion viruses. Transcription of ORF63, another latency-associated gene, was detected in ganglia from similar numbers of animals infected with the mutant and parental viruses. Thus, ORF21 is the first VZV gene expressed during latency that has been shown to be dispensable for the establishment of latent infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Bldg. 10, Rm. 11N228, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. Phone: (301) 496-5265. Fax: (301) 496-7383. E-mail: jcohen{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Journal of Virology, January 2003, p. 1211-1218, Vol. 77, No. 2
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.2.1211-1218.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»