Characterization and transcript mapping of a bovine herpesvirus type 1 gene encoding a polypeptide homologous to the herpes simplex virus type 1 major tegument proteins VP13/14.

Using in vitro translation of hybrid-selected mRNA, we have previously shown that bovine herpesvirus type 1 HindIII fragment M encodes an abundant 94K polypeptide. Using immunoprecipitation and sequencing analyses, it has now been shown that the polypeptide is related to the major tegument protein VP8 and is homologous to the herpes simplex virus type 1 major tegument proteins VP13/14. The sequence of the VP8 gene (field isolate 34) is reported and compared to published data. Several differences between the sequences were detected, resulting particularly from base insertions/deletions generating three major frameshifts affecting an area of 87 amino acid residues of the encoded protein. In addition, sequence comparison revealed 29 single base alterations, excluding frameshift regions, producing 17 amino acid substitutions. Overall, 14.1% of the deduced amino acid sequences were divergent. We have also established that the last 152 nucleotides of the previously reported sequence correspond to the sequence of the minus not the sense strand. Finally, we report that the 4.4 kb transcript of the VP8 gene is initiated 39 nucleotides upstream from the translation start codon.