EQUINE HERPESVIRUSES-2 AND HERPESVIRUSES-5 ARE GAMMA-HERPESVIRUSES

Abstract

Equine herpesviruses 2 and 5 (EHV-2 and EHV-5) have biological properties and genome structures that support their classification as members of the Betaherpesvirinae. In order to investigate whether this is supported by genetic data, we analysed the sequences of random DNA fragments and identified 25 EHV-2 and 28 EHV-5 genes that encode amino acid sequences with significant homology to proteins from other herpesviruses. Greatest similarity was to proteins specified by the gamma-herpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus (a gamma 1-herpesvirus) and herpesvirus saimiri (a gamma 2-herpesvirus), and the level of similarity was marginally greater to the latter. Also, like other gamma-herpesviruses, the EHV..