Anatomy of herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA. X. Mapping of viral genes by analysis of polypeptides and functions specified by HSV-1 X HSV-2 recombinants

Abstract

The provenance of the DNA sequences in 26 herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) .times. HSV-2 recombinants as determined from analyses of their DNA with at least 5 restriction endonucleases [HpaI, Bgl II, Xba I, EcoRI and Hsu I] was reported previously. This report deals with the polypeptides specified by the recombinants and by their HSV-1 and HSV-2 parents. The corresponding HSV-1 and HSV-2 polypeptides with MW ranging from 20,000 to more than 20,000, the polypeptides that undergo rapid post-translational processing, and polypeptides that vary intratypically in apparent MW were identified. By comparing the segregation patterns of the polypeptides with those of the DNA sequence of the recombinants, the templates specifying 26 polypeptides and several viral functions were mapped on the physical map of HSV DNA. The data show the following: .alpha. polypeptides map at the termini of the L and S components of the HSV DNA. Although .alpha. ICP [infected cell polypeptide] 27 maps entirely within the reiterated region of the L component, the template for .alpha. ICP 4 may lie only in part within the reiterated sequences of the S component. Of note is the finding that [human laryngeal carcinoma HEp-2] cells infected with a recombinant that contains both HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNA sequences in the S component produced .alpha. ICP 4 of both HSV-1 and HSV-2. Templates specifying .beta. and .gamma. polypeptides map in the L component and appear to be randomly distributed. Thymidine kinase and resistance to phosphonoacetic acid mapped in the L component. We have taken advantage of the rapid inhibition of host protein synthesis characteristic of HSV-2 infections and syncytial plaque morphology to also map the template(s) responsible for these functions in the L component. The implications of the template arrangement in HSV DNA are discussed.