Human Herpesvirus 5

Human Herpesvirus 5 (HCMV)
Gene Image Map The laboratory strain AD169 of Human cytomegalovirus, HCMV, (also called human herpesvirus 5, HHV-5) was first sequenced in 1989. The key publication is Chee et al. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1990;154:125-69, PMID: 2161319. In 1996 a 13 kbp and 15 kbp sequence was discovered in the low-passage Toledo strain that was missing from the Towne and AD169 strains respectively, see Cha et al. J Virol. 1996 Jan;70(1):78-83. PMID:8523595. The annotation presented here is based on a more recent sequence and annotation of AD169 by A.J. Davison et al. described in J Gen Virol. 2003 Jan;84(Pt 1):17-28. PMID: 12533697. We include the unique Towne and Toledo sequences as two separate inserts with coordinates matching their GenBank annotation. Summaries of more than thirty genes written by scientists in the HCMV research community are included in the comment section of the gene record, and a comprehensive list of HCMV References from Medline is provided. General properties of herpesviruses are reviewed here, Herpesviridae Properties Also take note of a new resource named HGXbase which contains 1300 human genes identified by expression studies as modulated by herpesvirus infection (HSV-1, HCMV and KSHV).

A graphic overview of the genome is available through the Gene Image Map. The core information in this database is the table of annotated records, one for each gene. Each gene record is identified by a gene id, HCMV000.5-HCMV203 for the AD169 genes and HCMVi01-HCMVi25 for unique genes in the Toledo and Towne inserts. Many spliced genes have been identified including, UL22A, UL36, UL37, UL119, UL123, UL128 and US3. Simple summaries of specific information are available below in the Predefined Database Searches including more than 20 identified Cellular Homologs.

The power of a relational database is demonstrated in the ability to search its information. We provide five search tools, each with different characteristics. The Basic Search allows a simple query of many fields for a text term. The Intermediate Search allows the user to search specific tables, to search a range of molecular weights or isoelectric points and to search the protein or nucleotide sequences for simple patterns. The Advanced SQL Search allows those who understand Structured Query Language to construct cross table and more specific queries and the Protein Motif Search allows searching protein sequences for sophisticated amino acid patterns. Repeat Search queries the repeat table for previously located nucleotide repeats. Tandem Repeats Finder locates 18 exact and inexact tandem repeats (minimum alignment score 50). Seven exact direct repeats, some with inverted components, (minimum length 20) are located with Reputer.

User Defined Database Searches