[en] Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) has been isolated from cattle throughout the world. Interestingly, a survey of wild African buffaloes mainly from the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya revealed that 94% of the animals tested had anti-BoHV-4 antibodies [Rossiter, P.B., Gumm, I.D., Stagg, D.A., Conrad, PA., Mukolwe, S., Davies, F.G., White, H., 1989. Isolation of bovine herpesvirus-3 from African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer). Res. Vet. Sci. 46, 337-343]. These authors also proposed that the serological antigenic relationship existing between BoHV-4 and alcelaphine herpesvirus I (A1HV-1) could confer to BoHV-4 infected buffaloes a protective immune response against lethal A1HV-1 infection. In the present study, we addressed two questions related to Rossiter et al. paper. Firstly, to investigate the role of the African buffalo as a natural host species of BoHV-4, the seroprevalence of anti-BoHV-4 antibodies was analysed in wild African buffaloes throughout eastern and southern Africa. A total of 400 sera was analysed using two complementary immunofluorescent assays. These analyses revealed that independently of their geographical origin, wild African buffaloes exhibit a seroprevalence of anti-BoHV-4 antibodies higher than 68%. This result is by far above the seroprevalence generally observed in cattle. Our data are discussed in the light of our recent phylogenetic study demonstrating that the BoHV-4 Bo17 gene has been acquired from a recent ancestor of the African buffalo. Secondly, we investigated the humoral antigenic relationship existing between BoHV-4 and A1HV-1. Our results demonstrate that among the antigens expressed in A1HV-1 infected cells, epitope(s) recognised by anti-BoHV-4 antibodies are exclusively nuclear, suggesting that the putative property of BoHV-4 to confer an immune protection against A1HV-1 relies on a cellular rather than on a humoral immune response. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Disciplines :
Microbiology Veterinary medicine & animal health
Author, co-author :
Dewals, Benjamin G ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Immunologie et vaccinologie
Gillet, Laurent ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Immunologie et vaccinologie
Gerdes, Truuske
Taracha, Evans L. N.
Thiry, Etienne ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires > Virologie, épidémiologie et pathologie des maladies virales
M. Bublot, G. Wellemans, M.F. Van Bressem, J. Dubuisson, P.P. Pastoret, and E. Thiry Genomic diversity among bovine herpesvirus 4 field isolates Arch. Virol. 116 1991 1 18
R. Daubney Malignant catarrhal fever in African buffalo. Colony and protectorate of Kenya Annu. Rep. Vet. Dep. 1943 6
J. Dubuisson, E. Thiry, M. Bublot, M. Sneyers, D. Boulanger, J. Guillaume, and P.P. Pastoret Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to bovid herpesvirus-4 Vet. Microbiol. 19 1989 305 315
C. Hamblin, and R.S. Hedger Neutralising antibodies to wildebeest-derived malignant catarrhal fever virus in African wildlife Comp. Immunol. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 7 1984 195 199
H. Li, D.T. Shen, D.A. Jessup, D.P. Knowles, J.R. Gorham, T. Thorne, D. O'Toole, and T.B. Crawford Prevalence of antibody to malignant catarrhal fever virus in wild and domestic ruminants by competitive-inhibition ELISA J. Wildl. Dis. 32 1996 437 443
H. Li, D.T. Shen, D. O'Toole, D.P. Knowles, J.R. Gorham, and T.B. Crawford Investigation of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever virus infection in ruminants by PCR and competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay J. Clin. Microbiol. 33 1995 2048 2053
R. Mack The great African cattle plague epidemic of the 1890s Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 2 1970 210 219
N. Markine-Goriaynoff, J.P. Georgin, M. Goltz, W. Zimmermann, H. Broll, H.M. Wamwayi, P.P. Pastoret, P.M. Sharp, and A. Vanderplasschen The core 2 beta-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-mucin encoded by bovine herpesvirus 4 was acquired from an ancestor of the African buffalo J. Virol. 77 2003 1784 1792
G. Meyer, M. Lemaire, C. Ros, K. Belak, A. Gabriel, D. Cassart, F. Coignoul, S. Belak, and E. Thiry Comparative pathogenesis of acute and latent infections of calves with bovine herpesvirus types 1 and 5 Arch. Virol. 146 2001 633 652
K. Naeem, D.D. Caywood, S.M. Goyal, R.E. Werdin, and M.P. Murtaugh Variation in the pathogenic potential and molecular characteristics of bovid herpesvirus-4 isolates Vet. Microbiol. 27 1991 1 18
W. Plowright Malignant catarrhal fever virus Z. Dinter B. Morein Virus Infections of Ruminants 1990 Elsevier Amsterdam 123 150
P.B. Rossiter, I.D. Gumm, and P.K. Mirangi Immunological relationships between malignant catarrhal fever virus (alcelaphine herpesvirus 1) and bovine cytomegalovirus (bovine herpesvirus 3) Vet. Microbiol. 16 1988 211 218
P.B. Rossiter, I.D. Gumm, D.A. Stagg, P.A. Conrad, S. Mukolwe, F.G. Davies, and H. White Isolation of bovine herpesvirus-3 from African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) Res. Vet. Sci. 46 1989 337 343
P.B. Rossiter, E.Z. Mushi, and W. Plowright The development of antibodies in rabbits and cattle infected experimentally with an African strain of malignant catarrhal fever virus Vet. Microbiol. 1977 2
S. Swa, H. Wright, J. Thomson, H. Reid, and D. Haig Constitutive activation of Lck and Fyn tyrosine kinases in large granular lymphocytes infected with the gamma-herpesvirus agents of malignant catarrhal fever Immunology 102 2001 44 52
E. Thiry, M. Bublot, J. Dubuisson, M.F. Van Bressem, A.S. Lequarre, P. Lomonte, A. Vanderplasschen, and P.P. Pastoret Molecular biology of bovine herpesvirus type 4 Vet. Microbiol. 33 1992 79 92
M. Thrusfield, C. Ortega, I. de Blas, J.P. Noordhuizen, and K. Frankena WIN EPISCOPE 2.0: improved epidemiological software for veterinary medicine Vet. Rec. 148 2001 567 572
W.F. Van Hooft, A.F. Groen, and H.H. Prins Phylogeography of the African buffalo based on mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal loci: pleistocene origin and population expansion of the Cape buffalo subspecies Mol. Ecol. 11 2002 267 279
G. Van Malderen, E. Van Opdenbosch, and G. Wellemans Bovine herpesvirus 1 and 4: a sero-epidemiological survey of the Belgian cattle population Vlaams. Diergeneesk. Tijdschr. 55 1987 17 20
M.H.V. van Regenmortel, C.M. Fauquet, D.H.L. Bishop, E.B. Carstens, M.K. Estes, S.M. Lemon, J. Maniloff, M.A. Mayo, D.J. McGeoch, C.R. Pringle, and R.B. Wickner Virus Taxonomy: Seventh Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses 2000 Academic Press London
A. Vanderplasschen, M. Bublot, J. Dubuisson, P.P. Pastoret, and E. Thiry Attachment of the gammaherpesvirus bovine herpesvirus 4 is mediated by the interaction of gp8 glycoprotein with heparinlike moieties on the cell surface Virology 196 1993 232 240
A. Vanderplasschen, N. Markine-Goriaynoff, P. Lomonte, M. Suzuki, N. Hiraoka, J.C. Yeh, F. Bureau, L. Willems, E. Thiry, M. Fukuda, and P.P. Pastoret A multipotential beta-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferase is encoded by bovine herpesvirus type 4 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 2000 5756 5761
A. Vanderplasschen, and G.L. Smith A novel virus binding assay using confocal microscopy: demonstration that the intracellular and extracellular vaccinia virions bind to different cellular receptors J. Virol. 71 1997 4032 4041
G.J. Wellenberg, E.M. van Rooij, J. Maissan, and J.T. Van Oirschot Evaluation of newly developed immunoperoxidase monolayer assays for detection of antibodies against bovine herpesvirus 4 Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 6 1999 447 451
P.W. Wenink, A.F. Groen, M.E. Roelke-Parker, and H.H. Prins African buffalo maintain high genetic diversity in the major histocompatibility complex in spite of historically known population bottlenecks Mol. Ecol. 7 1998 1315 1322
M. Woldemeskel, E. Kebede, L. Yigezu, and L.N. Potgieter Prevalence of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and bovine herpesvirus-4 (BHV-4) in cattle from Ethiopia Dtsch. Tierarztl. Wochenschr. 107 2000 464 466
W. Zimmermann, H. Broll, B. Ehlers, H.J. Buhk, A. Rosenthal, and M. Goltz Genome sequence of bovine herpesvirus 4, a bovine Rhadinovirus, and identification of an origin of DNA replication J. Virol. 75 2001 1186 1194