We used complete sequence data from 30 complete Herpesviridae genomes to investigate phylogenetic relationships and patterns of genome evolution. The approach was to identify orthologous gene clusters among taxa and to generate a genomic matrix of gene content. We identified 17 genes with homologs in all 30 taxa and concatenated a subset of 10 of these genes for phylogenetic inference. We also ...

When human samples are sequenced, many assembled contigs are "unknown", as conventional alignments find no similarity to known sequences. Hidden Markov models (HMM) exploit the positions of specific nucleotides in protein-encoding codons in various microbes. The algorithm HMMER3 implements HMM using a reference set of sequences encoding viral proteins, "vFam". We used HMMER3 analysis of "unknow...

Gammaherpesviruses (GHVs) are members of an emerging subfamily of the family Herpesviridae. A recent study identified a novel GHV in domestic cats (Felis catus GHV1, FcaGHV1), and epidemiological surveys have found that FcaGHV1 is distributed worldwide. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of GHVs in domestic cats in Japan with a molecular epidemiological survey. Blood samples were col...

Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) causes a ubiquitous infection worldwide affecting more than 90% of the adult population [1]. It is due to its ability to establish lifelong latency with episodes of reactivations with lack of major clinical symptoms in majority of cases. EBV is a member of Herpesviridae, sharing the main characteristics of the herpes infections persistency, latency and reactivation. It ...

The role of the products of the UL10 and the UL49.5 homologous genes of Marek's disease virus serotype 1 (MDV-1) in virus replication was investigated. Deletion of either open reading frame in an infectious bacterial artificial chromosome clone (BAC20) of MDV-1 resulted in progeny viruses that were unable to spread from cell to cell. After transfection of UL10- or UL49.5-negative BAC20 DNA into...

Severe tracheitis and bronchitis were identified in two fatal cases of respiratory disease affecting a flock of Gouldian finches (Erythrura [Chloebia] gouldiae). Intranuclear inclusion bodies in epithelial cells of the upper respiratory tract were identified in samples from two birds. Electron microscopic examination showed that the inclusions consisted of viral particles consistent in appearan...

Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, and its etiology is believed to have both genetic and environmental components. Several viruses have already been implicated as triggers and there are several studies that implicate members of the Herpesviridae family in the pathogenesis of MS. The most important characteristic of ...

Transcripts are known to be incorporated in particles of DNA viruses belonging to the families of Herpesviridae and Mimiviridae, but the presence of transcripts in other DNA viruses, such as poxviruses, has not been analyzed yet. Therefore, we first established a next-generation-sequencing (NGS)-based protocol, enabling the unbiased identification of transcripts in virus particles. Subsequently...