Characterization of the bovine herpesvirus 1 UL8 gene and gene products

The bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) strain Schonboken UL8 gene and the 5' flanking region were sequenced. Comparison of the UL8 ORF with the previously reported UL8 ORF of BHV-1 strain Cooper revealed significant differences that were mainly due to three frame-shifted segments. Reanalysis of the Cooper sequence after isolation of the respective segments from genomic DNA by PCR did not confirm the discrepancies; on the contrary, our results indicate a high degree of sequence conservation between the UL8 proteins of different BHV-1 isolates. A monospecific antiserum, raised against a bacterially expressed TrpE-UL8 fusion protein, identified the 80 kDa apparent molecular mass UL8 polypeptide which is localized in the nucleus of infected cells. Analysis of transcripts and time-course studies demonstrated that the UL8 protein is translated from a delayed-early expressed 3.1 kb polyadenylated mRNA which initiates within the UL9 ORF.