Sequence and initial characterization of the U(L)10 (glycoprotein M) and U(L)11 homologous genes of serotype 1 Marek's Disease Virus

nle nucleotide sequence of the U-L 10 (glycoprotein M) and the U-L 11 homol ogs of Marekls Disease Virus 1 strain GA was determined. The UL 10 open rea ding frame encodes a type III membrane protein of 424 amino acids that cont ains eight hydrophobic domains and two consensus N-linked glycosylation sit es. The U(L)11 homologous gene encodes an 84 amino acid polypeptide, and co ntains a highly conserved myristylation site at its aminoterminus. By analy sis of infected-cell RNA with strand-specific RNA probes, transcription of both U(L)10 and U-L 11 in infected cells was demonstrated. Coupled in vitro transcription-translation confirmed that the U-L 10 product is a 47 kD N-g lycosylated viral protein that aggregated upon boiling, whereas the U-L 11 protein exhibited a size of 12 kD after in vitro translation.