A comparison of the genomes of bovine herpesvirus type 1 and pseudorabies virus.

The DNA sequence homology between bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) and pseudorabies virus (PRV) was examined. Reciprocal cross-hybridization of viral DNA labelled by nick translation to Southern blots of restriction endonuclease-digested DNA detected homologous sequences dispersed throughout the genomes of the two viruses. The DNA-DNA hybrids formed were stable under high-stringency wash conditions. Sequences of a 32P-labelled PRV DNA fragment probe were found to hybridize only to a specific region of the BHV-1 genome, suggesting that the detected sequence homology was not due to fortuitous hybridization of G + C-rich sequences. As measured by liquid reassociation kinetics the homology between these two viruses was approximately 8%.