The derivation of a restriction endonuclease map for Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 DNA.

The gammaherpesvirus Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AHV-1), indigenous to the wildebeest (Connochaetes species), is a causative agent of the fatal lymphoproliferative disease malignant catarrhal fever in cattle and deer. The genome of the attenuated WC11 isolate of AHV-1 has previously been shown to possess a region of unique DNA together with multiple direct repeat sequences. Approximately 70% of the genome of WC11 has now been cloned into plasmid or bacteriophage vectors and these clones have been used in hybridisation experiments to construct a restriction endonuclease map of the WC11 unique DNA with respect to BamHI. EcoRI, SalI, SmaI and XhoI. The map allows the size of the unique region of the WC11 genome to be estimated as 130 kbp and thus the entire genome as 155-160 kbp. The results confirm a terminal location for the repeat sequences.