The Tegument Protein pUL47 of Marek's Disease Virus Is Necessary for Horizontal Transmission and Is Important for Expression of Glycoprotein gC.

ABSTRACT: Viral tropism and transmission of herpesviruses are best studied in their natural host for maximal biological relevance. In the case of alphaherpesviruses, few reports have focused on those aspects, primarily because of the few animal models available as natural hosts that are compatible with such studies. Here, using Marek's disease virus (MDV), a highly contagious and deadly alphaherpesvirus of chickens, we analyze the role of tegument proteins pUL47 and pUL48 in the whole life cycle of the virus. We report that a virus lacking the UL48 gene (vΔUL48) is impaired in growth in cell culture and has diminished virulence in vivo In contrast, a virus lacking UL47 (vΔUL47) is unaffected in its growth in vitro and is as virulent in vivo as the wild-type (WT) virus. Surprisingly, we observed that

SUBMITTER: Chuard A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7944448 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature