A 14-kDa immediate-early phosphoprotein is specifically expressed in cells infected with oncogenic Marek's disease virus strains and their attenuated derivatives.

Previously, we reported two cDNAs derived from the Marek's disease virus (MDV) long internal repeat region. A 14-kDa polypeptide (p14) encoded by two small open reading frames (ORFs) from at least two distinct cDNAs is expressed in cells lytically infected with both oncogenic and attenuated MDV as well as in cells latently infected and transformed by MDV. In this study, we demonstrate that p14 is serotype 1 specific and highly phosphorylated. Given the degree of phosphorylation and lack of homology to known proteins, we propose the name pp14 for the polypeptide encoded by ORF1a and ORF1b. Further analysis reveals that pp14 is predominantly found in cytoplasmic fractions of MDV-infected cells and can be detected in the cytoplasm of MDV-infected cells by immunofluorescence with polyclonal antisera prepared against pp14-glutathione S-transferase fusion protein.