Integrative functional genomics decodes herpes simplex virus 1

  • Adam W. Whisnant
  • , Christopher S. Jürges
  • , Thomas Hennig
  • , Emanuel Wyler
  • , Bhupesh Prusty
  • , Andrzej J. Rutkowski
  • , Anne L’hernault
  • , Lara Djakovic
  • , Margarete Göbel
  • , Kristina Döring
  • , Jennifer Menegatti
  • , Robin Antrobus
  • , Nicholas J. Matheson
  • , Florian W.H. Künzig
  • , Guido Mastrobuoni
  • , Chris Bielow
  • , Stefan Kempa
  • , Chunguang Liang
  • , Thomas Dandekar
  • , Ralf Zimmer
  • Markus Landthaler, Friedrich Grässer, Paul J. Lehner, Caroline C. Friedel, Florian Erhard*, Lars Dölken
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Scopus citations

Abstract

The predicted 80 open reading frames (ORFs) of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) have been intensively studied for decades. Here, we unravel the complete viral transcriptome and translatome during lytic infection with base-pair resolution by computational integration of multi-omics data. We identify a total of 201 transcripts and 284 ORFs including all known and 46 novel large ORFs. This includes a so far unknown ORF in the locus deleted in the FDA-approved oncolytic virus Imlygic. Multiple transcript isoforms expressed from individual gene loci explain translation of the vast majority of ORFs as well as N-terminal extensions (NTEs) and truncations. We show that NTEs with non-canonical start codons govern the subcellular protein localization and packaging of key viral regulators and structural proteins. We extend the current nomenclature to include all viral gene products and provide a genome browser that visualizes all the obtained data from whole genome to single-nucleotide resolution.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2038
JournalNature Communications
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

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