Identification of an essential domain in the herpesvirus VP1/2 tegument protein: the carboxy terminus directs incorporation into capsid assemblons.

ABSTRACT: The herpesvirus tegument is a layer of viral and cellular proteins located between the capsid and envelope of the virion. The VP1/2 tegument protein is critical for the propagation of all herpesviruses examined. Using an infectious clone of the alphaherpesvirus pseudorabies virus, we have made a collection of truncation and in-frame deletion mutations within the VP1/2 gene (UL36) and examined the resulting viruses for spread between cells. We found that the majority of the VP1/2 protein either was essential for virus propagation or did not tolerate large deletions. A recently described amino-terminal deubiquitinase-encoding domain was dispensable for alphaherpesvirus propagation, but the rate of propagation in an epithelial cell line and the frequency of transport in axons of primary senso

SUBMITTER: Lee JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1676267 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature