Genome sequence of a pathogenic isolate of monkey B virus (species Macacine herpesvirus 1)

The only genome sequence for monkey B virus (BV; species Macacine herpesvirus 1) is that of an attenuated vaccine strain originally isolated from a rhesus monkey (BVrh). Here we report the genome sequence of a virulent BV strain isolated from a cynomolgus macaque (BVcy). The overall genome organization is the same, although sequence differences exist. The greatest sequence divergence is located in non-coding areas of the long and short repeat regions. Like BVrh, BVcy has duplicated Ori elements and lacks an ORF corresponding to the γ34.5 gene of herpes simplex virus. Nine of ten miRNAs and the majority of ORFs are conserved between BVrh and BVcy. The most divergent genes are several membrane-associated proteins and those encoding immediate early proteins.