Role of codon usage and tRNA changes in rat cytomegalovirus latency and (re)activation

Herpesviruses can remain in their hosts by establishing a latent infection with a low pattern of viral gene expression. Passage from latency to reactivation may occur under particular conditions such as immunosuppressive treatments or during fetal development, and often is accompanied by heavy pathologic sequelae. To investigate the molecular basis underlying herpesvirus latency and (re)activation, codon usage of rat cytomegalovirus was comparatively analyzed with respect to the rat codon usage. Two major points stand out as follows: (i) six codons – GCG (Ala), CCG (Pro), CGG (Arg), CGC (Arg), TCG (Ser), and ACG (Thr) – are rare in rat genes and intensively used in rat cytomegalovirus coding sequences; (ii) in many instances, the codons seldom used by the host are clustered along viral sequences coding for single amino acid repeats such as poly‐Ala and poly‐Thr stretches. The results indicate that rare host codons and their iteration along viral sequences might represent major constraints that lock rat cytomegalovirus translation in its host during the viral latent phase. Consequently, the data also suggest a link between rat cytomegalovirus quiescence/activation and the functional tRNA coadaptation phenomenon. Indeed, increases in minor tRNA species corresponding to rare rat codons mark rat cell proliferation and might rescue difficult viral translational contexts. Ala isoaccepting‐tRNA (CGC) is reported as an example. On the whole, the present findings may contribute to explain how the molecular mechanisms that normally control host gene expression can silence/(re)activate viral gene expression, and might address research toward new approaches in anti‐viral therapeutics.