Sequence and genomic analysis of a rhesus macaque rhadinovirus with similarity to Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus human herpesvirus 8

We have sequenced the long unique region (LUR) and characterized the termin al repeats of the genome of a rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV), strain 17577, The LUR as sequenced is 131,364 bp in length, with a G+C content of 52.2% and a CpG ratio of 1.11. The genome codes for 79 open reading frames (ORFs), wit h 67 of these ORFs similar to genes found in both Kaposi's sarcoma-associat ed herpesvirus (KSHV) (formal name, human herpesvirus 8) and herpesvirus sa imiri, Eight of the 12 unique genes show similarity to genes found in KSHV, including genes for viral interleukin-6, viral macrophage inflammatory pro tein, and a family of viral interferon regulatory factors (vIRFs). Genomic organization is essentially colinear with KSHV, the primary differences bei ng the number of cytokine and IRF genes and the location of the gene for di hydrofolate reductase, Highly repetitive sequences are located in positions corresponding to repetitive sequences found in KSHV, Phylogenetic analysis of several ORFs supports the similarity between RRV and KSHV, Overall, the sequence, structural, and phylogenetic data combine to provide strong evid ence that RRV 17577 is the rhesus macaque homolog of KSHV.