The full genome sequences of 8 equine herpesvirus type 4 isolates from horses in Japan.

Equine herpesvirus type 4 (EHV-4) is one of the most important pathogens in horses. To clarify the key genes of the EHV-4 genome that cause abortion in female horses, we determined the whole genome sequences of a laboratory strain and 7 Japanese EHV-4 isolates that were isolated from 2 aborted fetuses and nasal swabs of 5 horses with respiratory disease. The full genome sequences and predicted amino acid sequences of each gene of these isolates were compared with of the reference EHV-4 strain NS80567 and Australian isolates that were reported in 2015. The EHV-4 isolates clustered in 2 groups which did not reflect their pathogenicity. A comparison of the predicted amino acid sequences of the genes did not reveal any genes that were associated with EHV-4-induced abortion.

The Role of the Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) US3-Encoded Protein Kinase in Actin Reorganization and Nuclear Egress.

The serine-threonine protein kinase encoded by US3 gene (pUS3) of alphaherpesviruses was shown to modulate actin reorganization, cell-to-cell spread, and virus egress in a number of virus species. However, the role of the US3 orthologues of equine herpesvirus type 1 and 4 (EHV-1 and EHV-4) has not yet been studied. Here, we show that US3 is not essential for virus replication in vitro. However, growth rates and plaque diameters of a US3-deleted EHV-1 and a mutant in which the catalytic active site was destroyed were significantly reduced when compared with parental and revertant viruses or a virus in which EHV-1 US3 was replaced with the corresponding EHV-4 gene. The reduced plaque sizes were consistent with accumulation of primarily enveloped virions in the perinuclear space of the US3-negative EHV-1, a phenotype that was also rescued by the EHV-4 orthologue. Furthermore, actin stress fiber disassembly was significantly more pronounced in cells infected with parental EHV-1, revertant, or the recombinant EHV-1 expressing EHV-4 US3. Finally, we observed that deletion of US3 in EHV-1 did not affect the expression of adhesion molecules on the surface of infected cells.

Evaluation of BHV-1 antibody titer in a cattle herd against different BHV-1 strains.

Although modified-live multivalent vaccines, such as PregGuard GOLD and Bovi-Shield Gold, have been used routinely in both beef and dairy cattle in the US, abortion and respiratory diseases still occasionally occur following vaccination. To determine whether the antibody induced by the multivalent vaccine can recognize BHV-1 isolates from aborted animals, BHV-1 antibody titer was evaluated with two isolates from abortion cases and two vaccine BHV-1 viruses. Cattle serum was collected from a dairy herd that was vaccinated annually with Bovi-Shield Gold 5 vaccine. Among the 28 cattle tested, no statistical significant difference in serum neutralization titer was observed when test virus was either vaccine virus or clinical isolates. It suggests that the BHV-1 antibody from the vaccinated cattle can recognize both the vaccine virus and clinical isolates. However, it is noticed that cows at 5 years old or older had a significantly lower BHV-1 antibody titer on average than the average of SN titer in 3 year-old cows. Similarly, cows at 5 years or older had a significantly lower BVDV antibody titer than cows at about 2 years of age. In addition, cattle vaccinated within 0-2 months had a significantly higher BHV-1 titer than those that received vaccination 6 months or greater prior to titer measurement. In contrast, cattle that received a vaccination 6 months prior had a significantly higher anti-BVDV antibody titer than those vaccinated within 1-2 months. The BVDV antibody titers remained relatively unchanged between 6 months and 1 year post-vaccination. Our study suggests little antigenic variation exists between BHV-1 disease isolates and BHV-1 of the multivalent vaccines. In addition, BHV-1 antibody titer is relatively lower at 6 months post vaccination in those tested animals. However, the BVDV antibody titer remained relatively high after 6 months from time of vaccination.

Equine herpesvirus type 1 tegument protein VP22 is not essential for pathogenicity in a hamster model, but is required for efficient viral growth in cultured cells.

VP22 is a major tegument protein of Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) that is a conserved protein among alphaherpesviruses. However, the roles of VP22 differ among each virus, and the roles of EHV-1 VP22 are still unclear. Here, we constructed an EHV-1 VP22 deletion mutant and a revertant virus to clarify the role of VP22. We found that EHV-1 VP22 was required for efficient viral growth in cultured cells, but not for virulence in a hamster model.

Differentiation of BHV-1 isolates from vaccine virus by high-resolution melting analysis.

An efficacious bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) vaccine has been used for many years. However, in the past few years, abortion and respiratory diseases have occurred after administration of the modified live vaccine. To investigate whether BHV-1 isolates from disease outbreaks are identical to those of the vaccines used, selected regions of the BHV-1 genome were investigated by high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis and PCR-DNA sequencing. When a target region within the thymidine kinase (TK) gene was examined by HRM analysis, 6 out of the 11 isolates from abortion cases and 22 out of the 25 isolates from bovine respiratory disease (BRD) cases had different melting curves compared to the vaccine virus. Surprisingly, when a conserved region within the US6 gene that encodes glycoprotein D (gD) was examined by HRM analysis, 5 out of the 11 abortion isolates and 18 out of the 23 BRD isolates had different melting curves from the vaccine virus. To determine whether SNPs within the coding regions of glycoprotein E (gE) and TK genes can be used to differentiate the isolates from the vaccine virus, PCR-DNA sequencing was used to examine these SNPs in all the isolates. This revealed that only 1 out of 11 of the abortion isolates and 4 out of 24 of the BRD isolates are different in the target region of gE from the vaccine virus, while 5 out of 11 abortion isolates and 4 out of 22 BRD isolates are different in the target region of TK from the vaccine virus. No DNA sequence differences were observed in glycoprotein G (gG) region between disease and vaccine isolates. Our study demonstrated that many disease isolates had genetic differences from the vaccine virus in regions examined by HRM and PCR-DNA sequencing analysis. In addition, many isolates contained more than one type of mutation and were composed of mixed variants. Our study suggests that a mixture of variants were present in isolates collected post-vaccination. HRM is a rapid diagnostic method that can be used for rapid differentiation of clinical isolates from vaccine strains.

Intracellular localization of Equine herpesvirus type 1 tegument protein VP22.

Intracellular localization of Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) tegument protein VP22 was examined by using a plasmid that expressed VP22 fused with an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Also a recombinant EHV-1 expressing VP22 fused with a red fluorescent protein (mCherry) was constructed to observe the localization of VP22 in infected cells. When EGFP-fused VP22 was overexpressed in the cells, VP22 localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Live cell imaging suggested that the fluorescently tagged VP22 also localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus. These results show that VP22 localizes in the cytoplasm and nucleus independently of other viral proteins. Experiments with truncation mutants of pEGFP-VP22 suggested that 154-188 aa might be the nuclear localization signal of EHV-1 VP22.

Full genome sequences of zebra-borne equine herpesvirus type 1 isolated from zebra, onager and Thomson's gazelle.

A strain of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) was isolated from zebra. This strain, called "zebra-borne EHV-1", was also isolated from an onager and a gazelle in zoological gardens in U.S.A. The full genome sequences of the 3 strains were determined. They shared 99% identities with each other, while they shared 98% and 95% identities with the horse derived EHV-1 and equine herpesvirus type 9, respectively. Sequence data indicated that the EHV-1 isolated from a polar bear in Germany is one of the zebra-borne EHV-1 and not a recombinant virus. These results indicated that zebra-borne EHV-1 is a subtype of EHV-1.

Identification of B cells as a major site for cyprinid herpesvirus 3 latency.

UNLABELLED: Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), commonly known as koi herpesvirus (KHV), is a member of the Alloherpesviridae, and is a recently discovered emerging herpesvirus that is highly pathogenic for koi and common carp. Our previous study demonstrated that CyHV-3 becomes latent in peripheral white blood cells (WBC). In this study, CyHV-3 latency was further investigated in IgM(+) WBC. The presence of the CyHV-3 genome in IgM(+) WBC was about 20-fold greater than in IgM(-) WBC. To determine whether CyHV-3 expressed genes during latency, transcription from all eight open reading frames (ORFs) in the terminal repeat was investigated in IgM(+) WBC from koi with latent CyHV-3 infection. Only a spliced ORF6 transcript was found to be abundantly expressed in IgM(+) WBC from CyHV-3 latently infected koi. The spliced ORF6 transcript was also detected in vitro during productive infection as early as 1 day postinfection. The ORF6 transcript from in vitro infection begins at -127 bp upstream of the ATG codon and ends +188 bp downstream of the stop codon, +20 bp downstream of the polyadenylation signal. The hypothetical protein of ORF6 contains a consensus sequence with homology to a conserved domain of EBNA-3B and ICP4 from Epstein-Barr virus and herpes simplex virus 1, respectively, both members of the Herpesviridae. This is the first report of latent CyHV-3 in B cells and identification of gene transcription during latency for a member of the Alloherpesviridae. IMPORTANCE: This is the first demonstration that a member of the Alloherpesviridae, cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), establishes a latent infection in the B cells of its host, Cyprinus carpio. In addition, this is the first report of identification of gene transcription during latency for a member of Herpesvirales outside Herpesviridae. This is also the first report that the hypothetical protein of latent transcript of CyHV-3 contains a consensus sequence with homology to a conserved domain of EBNA-3B from Epstein-Barr virus and ICP4 from herpes simplex virus 1, which are genes important for latency. These strongly suggest that latency is evolutionally conserved across vertebrates.