Structures of herpes simplex virus type 1 genes required for replication of virus DNA.

Recently, a method has been developed to identify regions in the genome of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) which contain genes required for DNA synthesis from an HSV-1 origin of DNA replication, and seven genomic loci have been identified as representing the necessary and sufficient gene set for such replication (C. A. Wu, N. J. Nelson, D. J. McGeoch, and M. D. Challberg, J. Virol. 62:435-443, 1988). Two of the loci represent the well-known genes for DNA polymerase and major DNA-binding protein, but the remainder had little or no previous characterization. In this report we present the DNA sequences of the five newly identified genes and their deduced transcript organizations and encoded amino acid sequences. These genes were designated UL5, UL8, UL9, UL42, and UL52 and were predicted to encode proteins with molecular weights of, respectively, 99,000, 80,000, 94,000, 51,000, and 114,000. All of these genes had clear counterparts in the genome of the related alphaherpesvirus varicella-zoster virus, but only UL5 and UL52 were detectably conserved in the distantly related gammaherpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus, as judged by amino acid sequence similarity. The sequence of the UL5 protein, and of its counterparts in the other viruses, contained a region closely resembling known ATP-binding sites; this could be indicative, for instance, of a helicase or primase activity.