GLYCOPROTEIN GB (GII) OF PSEUDORABIES VIRUS CAN FUNCTIONALLY SUBSTITUTE FOR GLYCOPROTEIN GB IN HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE-1

Glycoproteins homologous to gB of herpes simplex virus (HSV) constitut e the most highly conserved family of herpesvirus glycoproteins. All g B homologs analyzed so far have been shown to play essential roles in penetration and direct viral cell-to-cell spread. In studies aimed at assessing whether the high sequence homology is also indicative of fun ctional homology, we analyzed the ability of the gB-homologous glycopr otein (former designation gII) of pseudorabies virus (PrV) to compleme nt a gB(-) HSV type 1 (HSV-1) mutant and vice versa. The results show that a PrV gB-expressing cell line phenotypically complemented the let hal defect in gB(-) HSV-1 whereas reciprocal complementation of a gB(- ) PrV mutant by HSV-1 gB was not observed.