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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Use of In vivo Imaging to Monitor the Progression of Experimental Mouse Cytomegalovirus Infection in Neonates

Use of In vivo Imaging to Monitor the Progression of Experimental Mouse Cytomegalovirus Infection in Neonates

Published on: July 6, 2013

Human cytomegalovirus genome.

E Murphy¹, T Shenk

¹Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1014, USA.

Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology

|July 22, 2008

Summary

This study identified conserved genes in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) clinical isolates and chimpanzee cytomegalovirus (CCMV). Researchers found 173 shared functional genes and 33 potentially unique HCMV genes.

Area of Science:

Virology
Genomics
Molecular Biology

Background:

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) possesses a large, complex genome with variations between clinical isolates and laboratory strains.
Laboratory strains of HCMV have undergone genomic rearrangements due to extensive passaging in fibroblasts.
Previous sequencing efforts have focused on a limited number of clinical HCMV isolates.

Purpose of the Study:

To re-evaluate the coding content of HCMV clinical isolates by identifying conserved open reading frames (ORFs).
To compare the conserved ORFs in HCMV with those found in the chimpanzee cytomegalovirus (CCMV) genome.
To identify potentially functional ORFs specific to HCMV.

Main Methods:

Sequencing of five clinical HCMV isolates.

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Comparative genomic analysis to identify conserved ORFs across all HCMV isolates.

Cross-species comparison of HCMV ORFs with the CCMV genome.

Main Results:

A total of 173 ORFs were identified as conserved across all five HCMV clinical isolates and the CCMV genome, suggesting high functional importance.
An additional 59 ORFs were found in all HCMV isolates but not in CCMV.
After excluding ORFs in non-coding regions, 33 potentially functional ORFs specific to HCMV were identified.

Conclusions:

The 173 conserved ORFs are highly likely to be essential for HCMV function.
The 33 identified ORFs represent potential targets for further research into HCMV-specific biology and therapeutics.
This comparative genomic analysis refines our understanding of the core functional genome of HCMV.