Identification of a Varicella-Zoster Virus Origin of DNA Replication and Its Activation by Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Gene Products

• Published in: Journal of general virology 1986-08, Vol.67 (8), p.1613-1623
• Main Authors: Stow, Nigel D, Davison, Andrew J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Line; Cricetinae; DNA Replication; DNA, Viral - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Viral; Genetics; herpes simplex virus 1; Herpesvirus 3, Human - genetics; Herpesvirus 3, Human - metabolism; Microbiology; Mutation; Plasmids; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Simplexvirus - genetics; varicella-zoster virus; Virology; Virus Replication
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-67-8-1613

Medical Research Council Virology Unit, Institute of Virology, Church Street, Glasgow G11 5JR, U.K. We have identified and characterized an origin of DNA replication in the genome of the human herpesvirus, varicella-zoster virus (VZV). This origin of replication (VZV ORI S ) is located within the major inverted repeats in a position equivalent to that occupied by one of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication origins. Products encoded by both VZV and HSV-1 activate cloned copies of VZV ORI S , generating high molecular weight molecules consisting of tandem duplications of the input plasmid. The VZV ORI S region contains a tract of alternating A and T residues located at the centre of symmetry of an almost perfect palindrome of 45 bp, and the use of plasmid deletion mutants has demonstrated that this tract is an important functional element of the origin. Two sequences common to the VZV ORI S region and the regions specifying the two HSV-1 origins (ORI S , located within the TR S /IR S regions, and ORI L , located with in the U L region) were identified and these may represent important recognition sites. One is an 11 bp sequence (CGTTCGCACTT), and the other is represented by the tract of alternating A and T residues. VZV does not appear to contain an origin of replication in a position equivalent to that of HSV-1 ORI L . Keywords: HSV-1, VZV, DNA replication origin Present address: Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, U.S.A. Received 11 March 1986; accepted 28 April 1986.