Herpesviruses

Herpesviruses (such as Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of glandular fever), as well as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) can exist in a “latency state” for life.

But the AD samples were particularly enriched in herpesviruses 6A and 7, a result that repeated across three independent cohorts from different geographical locations (the brain tissue collections were from more than one previous effort).

Another paper has also suggested that herpesviruses originated amoung the bacteriophages.

A second clade includes the alpha- and delta-like viral Pol from insect ascovirus (Ascoviridae), mammalian herpesviruses (Herpesviridae), fish lymphocystis disease virus (Iridoviridae) and chlorella virus (Phycoviridae).

A second study showed that poxvirus, baculovirus and the animal herpesviruses form separate and distinct clades.

Only a single gene encoding the putative ATPase subunit of the terminase (UL15) is conserved among all herpesviruses.

Several dsDNA bacteriophages and the herpesviruses encode a powerful ATP driven DNA translocating machine that encapsidates a viral genome into a preformed capsid shell or prohead.

Some episomes, such as herpesviruses, replicate in a rolling circle mechanism, similar to bacterial phage viruses.