Identification of the Marek's disease virus serotype 2 genes homologous tothe glycoprotein B (UL27), ICP18.5 (UL28) and major DNA-binding protein (UL29) genes of herpes simplex virus type 1

We determined the nucleotide sequence of non-pathogenic Marek's disease vir us serotype 2 (MDV2) strain HPRS24 glycoprotein B (gB) (UL27), ICP18.5 (UL2 8) and major DNA-binding protein (MDBP) (UL29) genes homologous to herpes s implex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The sequence data revealed that important moti ves in the proteins are conserved in MDV2 ICP18.5 and MDBP, however the seq uence of viral DNA replication origin which exists in the regions between t he UL29 and UL30 genes of other alphaherpesviruses was not found in the reg ions of the MDV2 genome. By northern blot analyses, we also demonstrated th at 8.9, 5.0 and 2.6 kb transcripts were actually transcribed from the seque nced region in MDV2-infected cells. The MDV2 UL28 and UL29 genes have not b een reported in other serotypes of MDV.