Complexities of gammaherpesvirus transcription revealed by microarrays and RNAseq

Abstract

Technological advances in genome-wide transcript analysis, referred to as the transcriptome, using microarrays and deep RNA sequencing methodologies are rapidly extending our understanding of the genetic content of the gammaherpesviruses (γHVs). These vast transcript analyses continue to uncover the complexity of coding transcripts due to alternative splicing, translation initiation and termination, as well as regulatory RNAs of the γHVs. A full assessment of the transcriptome requires that our analysis be extended to the virion and exosomes of infected cells since viral and host mRNAs, miRNAs, and other noncoding RNAs seem purposefully incorporated to exert function upon delivery to naïve cells. Understanding the regulation, biogenesis and function of the recently discovered transcripts will extend beyond pathogenesis and oncogenic events to offer key insights for basic RNA processes of the cell.