CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF RHESUS CYTOMEGALOVIRUS GLYCOPROTEIN-B

Rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) infection of rhesus macaques is an impo rtant model to investigate critical issues of cytomegalovirus biology. To better understand host immunological responses to viral glycoprote ins, the glycoprotein B (gB) gene of RhCMV was molecularly cloned, seq uenced and characterized, Transcription analysis revealed that RhCMV g B was transcribed as a late gene, The RhCMV gB gene encoded a predicte d protein of 854 amino acids that was 60% identical/75% similar to the human CMV (HCMV) gB protein. The region of HCMV gB proposed to be res ponsible for virus binding to host cells, fusion and cell-to-cell spre ad was the most highly conserved region with RhCMV gB (74% identity/85 % similarity). Conserved elements included 11 of 12 cysteine residues, 14 of 16 potential N-linked glycosylation sites and cross-reactive ep itopes, Metabolic labelling experiments demonstrated that RhCMV gB was proteolytically processed similarly to HCMV gB, These results are cri tical for investigating virus-host relationships in CMV-infected prima tes.