Splicing of Rhesus Rhadinovirus R15 and ORF74 Bicistronic Transcripts during Lytic Infection and Analysis of Effects on Production of vCD200 and vGPCR

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Abstract
Rhesus macaque rhadinovirus (RRV) is the rhesus macaque homologue of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Here we examine expression of RRV R15 and ORF74, homologues of K14 and ORF74 of HHV-8, respectively. As in HHV-8, transcripts encoding RRV R15 and ORF74 are bicistronic. However, unlike what has been suggested for HHV-8, RRV R15- and ORF74-encoding transcripts are expressed late during lytic infection and undergo unique splicing events that result in the production of transcripts capable of encoding vGPCR, as well as membrane-associated and secreted forms of vCD200. The alternative splicing for vCD200 has implications for viral pathogenesis.

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