Differential transcription of ovine herpesvirus 2 genes in lymphocytes from reservoir and susceptible species
Abstract
Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is a lymphotropic gammaherpesvirus that asymptomatically infects most sheep, but causes malignant catarrhal fever in cattle, bison, pigs and deer. There is no permissive cell culture system but OvHV-2-infected T lymphocytes can be cultured from diseased animals. We showed that the OvHV-2 genome was in a circular conformation in sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cells and that the latency-associated ORF73 was transcribed, while expression of the productive cycle genes ORF9 (DNA polymerase) and ORF50 (R-transactivator) was barely detectable, suggestive of latency. Doxorubicin treatment of these cells induced the appearance of linear viral DNA and transcription of productive cycle genes along with several viral unique genes. In contrast, cultured T cells from diseased cattle and rabbits contained a mixture of circular and linear genome configurations indicative of a mixture of latently- and productively-infected cells. Most of the OvHV-2 unique genes were transcribed in these cells but ORF50 expression was only seen after doxorubicin treatment indicating a 'leaky' latent pattern of gene expression. 5-azacytidine treatment increased the proportion of circular DNA and inhibited the expression of most of...Continue Reading
References
Detection of circular and linear herpesvirus DNA molecules in mammalian cells by gel electrophoresis
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