Revised Phylogenetic Relationships among Herpesviruses Isolated from Sturgeons
Author(s) -
Kurobe Tomofumi,
Kelley Garry O.,
Waltzek Thomas B.,
Hedrick Ronald P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of aquatic animal health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1548-8667
pISSN - 0899-7659
DOI - 10.1577/h07-028.1
Subject(s) - biology , phylogenetic tree , clade , sturgeon , phylogenetics , herpesviridae , genetics , virology , gene , zoology , virus , viral disease , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery
Abstract Initial phylogenetic comparisons based on a region of the DNA polymerase of seven herpes‐like viruses found in sturgeons in North America and Europe indicated the presence of three distinct clades. A revised phylogenetic analysis of the same viruses, based on corrected DNA polymerase sequences and newly obtained sequence data from the putative ATP subunit of the terminase gene, indicate only two clades. These two clades correspond to the historical designations given to these herpes‐like viruses from white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus : white sturgeon herpesvirus type 1 (WSHV‐1) and type 2 (WSHV‐2). The identification of putative terminase gene sequences for all seven herpes‐like viruses from sturgeons confirms their affinity with the family Herpesviridae (because this gene is unique to herpesviruses) and more distantly with T4‐like bacteriophages. The two clades of sturgeon herpesviruses are therefore appropriately designated as Acipenserid herpesviruses 1 and 2, which correspond to the previous common names of white sturgeon herpesvirus types 1 and 2.