Pseudorabies virus and equine herpesvirus 1 share a nonessential gene which is absent in other herpesviruses and located adjacent to a highly conserved gene cluster.

We have determined the nucleotide sequence and transcriptional pattern of a group of open reading frames in the pseudorabies virus (PrV) genome located near the left end of the unique long region within BamHI 5' fragment at map positions 0.01 to 0.06. The 7,412-bp BamHI 5' fragment was found to contain five complete open reading frames and part of a sixth whose deduced amino acid sequences showed homology to the UL50 (partial), UL51, UL52, UL53, and UL54 gene products of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and corresponding genes identified in other alphaherpesviruses. Homologs to the UL55 and UL56 genes of HSV-1 were not detected. However, we identified a gene with homology only to the first open reading frame (ORF-1) of the equine herpesvirus 1 strain Ab4 (E. A. Telford, M. S. Watson, K. McBride, and A. J. Davison, Virology 189:304-316, 1992). Northern blot analyses revealed unique mRNAs for the UL51, UL54, and ORF-1 genes and a set of 3'-coterminal mRNAs for the UL52 to UL54 genes. A PrV mutant lacking ORF-1 was isolated after deletion of ORF-1 coding sequences and insertion of a lacZ expression cassette. The ORF-1- PrV mutant was able to productively replicate in noncomplementing cells to levels similar to those of wild-type PrV, proving that ORF-1 is not essential for replication of PrV in cell culture. The conservation of this gene between PrV and equine herpesvirus 1 documents the close evolutionary relationship between these animal herpesviruses and points to a possible function of the respective proteins in infection of the natural host.