Inversion events in the HSV-1 genome are directly mediated by the viral DNA replication machinery and lack sequence specificity |
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Authors: | P C Weber M D Challberg N J Nelson M Levine J C Glorioso |
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Institution: | Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109. |
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Abstract: | The bacterial transposable element Tn5 was observed to undergo high-frequency sequence inversion when integrated into the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genome. Deletion analysis of the IS50 elements through which this recombination event occurred demonstrated the absence of cis-acting signals involved in the inversion process. Several observations suggested an intimate association of the recombination mechanism with HSV-1 DNA replication, including the ability of the seven viral genes that are essential for HSV-1 DNA synthesis to mediate Tn5 inversion in the absence of any other viral functions. Comparable results were obtained by using duplicate copies of the L-S junction of the HSV-1 genome. Thus inversion of the L and S components of the HSV-1 genome during productive infection does not appear to be a site-specific process, but rather is the result of generalized recombination mediated by the complex of gene products that replicate the viral DNA. |
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