Genetic Relations between Varicella-Zoster Virus and Epstein-Barr Virus

Abstract

SUMMARYVaricella-zoster virus (VZV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are important human pathogens which belong to different subfamilies of the herpesviruses : the Alpha-and Gammaherpesvirinae, respectively. Computer comparisons of the amino acid sequences of proteins predicted from the published complete VZV and EBV DNA sequences resulted in the detection of EBV counterparts to 29 of the 67 unique VZV genes. Conserved genes were detected only in the UL component of each genome, and are located in three major regions, within which conserved genes are generally colinear. However, the three regions are arranged differently in the two genomes. These results make it possible in principle to propose the functions of EBV genes on the basis of the functions of their VZV counterparts. The data also allow identification of the types of events which may have occurred during divergence of VZV and EBV, as representatives of the Alpha-and Gammaherpesvirinae, from a common ancestor.

Induction of protective immunity with antibody to herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein H (gH) and analysis of the immune response to gH expressed in recombinant vaccinia virus

“…Glycoprotein H (gH) of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is one of three glycoproteins that are essential for virus viability in tissue culture (Cai et al, 1988 ;Ligas & Johnson, 1988;Desai et al, 1988), and homologues of this glycoprotein have been identified in members of all the herpesvirus subfamilies (Davison & Taylor, 1987;Gompels et al, 1988;Cranage et al, 1988;Heineman et al, 1988). gH is required for virus entry (Desai et al, 1988) and is probably involved in cell to cell spread of infectivity since gH-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), in addition to neutralizing free virus, inhibit cell fusion by syncytial strains and prevent intercellular virus transmission (Buckmaster et al, 1984;Gompels & Minson, 1986).…”

Gene UL2 of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Encodes a Uracil-DNA Glycosylase

“…Gene UL2 has counterparts in the other herpesviruses whose genomes have been sequenced. These are gene 59 in varicella-zoster virus (VZV) (Davison & Scott, 1986;Davison & Taylor, 1987) and BKRF3 in Epstein Barr virus (EBV) (Baer et al, 1984;. The amino acid sequences of all three genes are notably conserved, especially towards their 3' termini.…”

Murine herpesvirus 68 is genetically related to the gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus and herpesvirus saimiri

“…Nonetheless, all three viruses encode closely related proteins and have a similar organization of their coding sequences (see Fig. 4 and Gompels et al, 1988), which is distinct from the organization of homologous genes in the alphaherpesviruses VZV and HSV (McGeoch et al, 1988;Davison & McGeoch, 1986;Davison & Taylor, 1987) and HCMV (Chee et al, 1989a;Kouzarides et al, 1987). Whether MHV-68 is more closely related to HVS than to EBV will require further large scale nucleotide sequence analysis to allow accurate comparisons to be made.…”

“…No such internal repeats exist at this position in either the MHV-68 or HVS genomes. The arrangement of genes in the gammaherpesviruses EBV and HVS relative to those of the alphaherpesviruses HSV and VZV, and the betaherpesvirus HCMV have been reported (Baer et al, 1984;Davison & Taylor, 1987;Kouzarides et al, 1987;Gompels et al, 1988;McGeoch et al, 1988;Chee et al, 1989a) and it is clear from the results of short sequence analysis of the MHV-68 genome that it has an overall genetic organization most similar to those of the gammaherpesviruses EBV and HVS.…”

“…Comparisons of these sequences have allowed the identification of genes common to all these viruses as well as the recognition of genes specific to either a particular virus or virus subgroup. Of interest is the observation that the order and orientation of homologous genes is similar throughout the genomes of the alphaherpesviruses VZV and HSV (McGeoch et al, 1988;Davison & Wilkie, 1983;Davison & McGeoch, 1986) but that the arrangement of homologous genes in EBV (Baer et al, 1984;Davison & Taylor, 1987) and HCMV (Kouzarides et al, 1987;Chee et al, 1989a) is not preserved. Analyses of short nucleotide sequences of herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) have shown that this lymphotropic gammaherpesvirus has a genome organization similar to that of EBV 0000-9409 © 1990 SGM .…”