Analysis of Interstrain Variation in Cytomegalovirus Glycoprotein B Sequences Encoding Neutralization-Related Epitopes

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Abstract
Nucleotide sequences of a part ofthe envelope glycoprotein B(gB) gene of human cytomegalovirus(CMV), encoding epitopes recognized by virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, were determined for 12 distinct clinical strains of CMV after amplification of suitable templates using the polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis of this region (codons 384–717) revealed that the clinical strains and previously sequenced laboratory strains Towne and AD169 belong toone off our variant groups, each with a characteristic nucleotide and peptide sequence. Peptide homology was >99% for strains within a group, and varied from 91% to 98% for strains in different groups. Variation was most frequent between codons 448 and 480. The gB group of a CMV strain could be determined by restriction analysis ofa small target sequence amplified from viral genomic DNA, and an additional 28 clinical strains were grouped in this manner. The existence of a limited number of variants of gB among clinical strains facilitates analysis of biologic function and cross reactivity of immune responses.

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