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. 1996 Aug;70(8):5680–5683. doi: 10.1128/jvi.70.8.5680-5683.1996

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) smallest capsid protein identified as product of short open reading frame located between HCMV UL48 and UL49.

W Gibson 1, K S Clopper 1, W J Britt 1, M K Baxter 1
PMCID: PMC190534  PMID: 8764088

Abstract

The capsid of cytomegalovirus contains an abundant, low-molecular-weight protein whose coding sequence within the viral genome had not been identified. We have used a combination of biochemical and immunological techniques to demonstrate that this protein, called the smallest capsid protein in human cytomegalovirus, is encoded by a previously unidentified 225-bp open reading frame (ORF) located between ORFs UL48 and UL49. This short ORF, called UL48/49, is the positional homolog of herpes simplex virus ORF UL35 (encoding capsid protein VP26) and shows partial amino acid sequence identity to positional homologs in human herpes viruses 6 and 7.

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Selected References

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