Further evidence of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) latency: high levels of ChHV5 DNA detected in clinically healthy marine turtles.

ABSTRACT: The Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) has been consistently associated with fibropapillomatosis (FP), a transmissible neoplastic disease of marine turtles. Whether ChHV5 plays a causal role remains debated, partly because while FP tumours have been clearly documented to contain high concentrations of ChHV5 DNA, recent PCR-based studies have demonstrated that large proportions of asymptomatic marine turtles are also carriers of ChHV5. We used a real-time PCR assay to quantify the levels of ChHV5 Glycoprotein B (gB) DNA in both tumour and non-tumour skin tissues, from clinically affected and healthy turtles drawn from distant ocean basins across four species. In agreement with previous studies, higher ratios of viral to host DNA were consistently observed in tumour versus non-tumour tissues in

SUBMITTER: Alfaro-Nunez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4974929 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature