After exposure to these benthic ecosystems, FP manifests itself with primary growths in the corner of the eyes spreading to other epithelial tissue. Long-term studies have shown that pelagic turtles recruiting to near shore environments are free of the disease. Although reported since the late 1930s in Florida, it was not until the late 1980s that it reached epizootic proportions in several sea turtle populations.
The disease has a worldwide, circumtropical distribution and has been observed in all major oceans.
In addition, the condition has been confirmed in other species of sea turtles. Marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease primarily affecting green turtles (Chelonia mydas) that is characterized by multiple cutaneous masses. Cloning and sequencing the genome of this putative herpesvirus will facilitate current understanding of its role in causing GTFP and the development of molecular- and immuno-based methods for the diagnosis and prevention of this devastating disease of green turtles. Examination of the translated amino acid sequence further supports this categorization since GTHV DBP comprises a highly conserved zinc finger motif (CXLCX4RX2C) and a putative DNA binding domain, and exhibits high sequence homology to other alphaherpesviruses. Phylogenetic analysis of the GTHV DBP gene confirmed and substantiated that this novel Chelonian herpesvirus is closely related to the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae. The second ORF encodes a partial peptide of the UL28 gene.
The first ORF is 59% G+C rich and contains the full-length genomic sequence of the DNA binding protein (DBP) gene (3,585 bp) encoding a protein of 1,195 amino acid residues in length. This newly identified viral DNA fragment contains two non-overlapping open reading frames (ORF) oriented in the 3′ to 5′ direction. Through 4 consecutive genomic walks employing a recently modified inverse polymerase chain reaction technique, a 4,054-bp DNA fragment of a newfound green turtle herpesvirus (GTHV) was obtained from tumor tissues of a green turtle with fibropapillomas.
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