Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Serologic and molecular analysis of rhesus cytomegalovirus.
Symp Nonhum Primate Models AIDS. 1993 Sep 19-22;11:abstract no. 107. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE PRIM11/94191599 Barry PA; Vogel P; Weigler BJ; Kerr H; Powers M; Alcendor D; Luciw PA; Dept. of Medical Pathology, University of California, Davis; 95616.
Abstract:
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous infectious agent in humans that normally results in no overt pathology. CMV-induced disease is usually observed only in individuals without a fully competent immune system (e.g., fetuses/neonates, AIDS patients, and transplant recipients). We have been investigating infection of rhesus macaques by rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) as a model for the study of transmission of primate cytomegaloviruses and to elucidate the molecular basis of CMV pathogenesis. A cross-sectional serosurvey of 142 group-housed, breeding animals indicated that 100% of the animals over 1 year of age and 42% of the animals under one year of age were seropositive for RhCMV infection. A longitudinal serosurvey of 28 infants born over a three year period demonstrated that 50% of the animals had seroconverted by six months of age; by the end of the first year 27 of the 28 infants were infected with RhCMV. In order to investigate the molecular biology of RhCMV, the immediate-early (IE) gene was cloned and characterized. The nucleotide sequence and the transcriptional map for RhCMV IE is very similar to that of human CMV (HCMV), demonstrating conservation of this important gene during evolution of the primate family of CMV. The RhCMV IE gene has a significant under representation of CpG dinucleotide residues, similar to that observed for African green monkey CMV and HCMV. The 9.2 kb restriction fragment spanning the RhCMV IE gene also included a number of other, smaller open reading frames (ORFs). Based on nucleic acid and amino acid sequence alignments with HCMV, these ORFs represent the RhCMV counterparts of the HCMV UL121, 120, 119, 118, and 117. Based on genomic location (i.e., downstream of the major IE gene) and sequence homologies, there has been selective pressure for the retention of these uncharacterized protein coding regions during evolution. We provide evidence for a novel form of gene regulation of these open reading frames.
Keywords: Animal AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections Base Sequence Cercopithecus aethiops Comparative Study Cytomegalovirus/*CLASSIFICATION/GENETICS/ISOLATION & PURIF Cytomegalovirus Infections/MICROBIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION Fetus Gene Expression Regulation, Viral Genes, Immediate-Early Human Infant, Newborn Macaca mulatta/*MICROBIOLOGY Open Reading Frames Transplantation/ADVERSE EFFECTS ABSTRACT 940730
M9470919
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
