The 40 bp Internal Repeat of Murine Gamma Herpesvirus

Gamma herpesvirus genomes have different kinds of repeat sequences, the functions of which range from immune evasion to being a part of the lytic origin of replication. The MHV-68 genome also contains two such internal repeats, i.e., the 100 bp repeat and the 40 bp repeat. The presence of these internal repeats in the genome of MHV-68 provides an opportunity to address the role of these repeats in gamma herpesvirus pathogenesis. The 40 bp internal repeat plays an important role in the establishment of latency especially for the amplification of latency stage. This phenotype is dependent on the number of 40 bp internal repeat units present in the genome. The 40 bp repeat of MHV-68 is involved in the establishment of latency via regulation of the expression of ORF MK3 in a tissue specific/infection cycle specific fashion. These repeats might act as enhancer regions for certain virus specific genes which can affect the phenotype of virus-induced disease.

Autorentext

Dr. Nagendra working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Sikkim University, India. Before joining Sikkim University he worked as Post Doctoral Fellow at LSUHSC, Shreveport Louisiana, USA and completed his Ph.D degree LMU, Munich, Germany and Masters Degree from Department of Microbiology, M.S. University Baroda, India.