The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) tegument protein UL94 is essential for secondary envelopment of HCMV virions.

ABSTRACT: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) virions are structurally complex, and the mechanisms by which they are assembled are poorly understood. However, several tegument proteins are known to be essential for proper particle assembly and maturation. Despite intense investigation, the function of many tegument proteins remains unknown. The HCMV UL94 gene is conserved among all herpesviruses and encodes a virion protein of unknown function. We demonstrate here that UL94 is a tegument protein that is expressed with true-late kinetics and localizes to the viral assembly complex during infection. To elucidate the function of UL94, we constructed a UL94-null mutant, designated UL94stop. This mutant is completely defective for replication, demonstrating that UL94 is essential. Phenotypic analysis of the UL9

SUBMITTER: Phillips SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3302285 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature