Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) UL11 is a 74-amino-acid tegument protein encoded by ORF51 of the EHV-1 genome.
EHV-1 UL11 was previously reported by other researchers using the RacL22 and RacH strains to be nonessential for viral
replication in cultured cells. Here, we constructed UL11 mutant viruses including a UL11 null mutant and three C-terminal
truncated mutants, for further characterization of EHV-1 UL11 using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) technology
based on the neuropathogenic strain Ab4p. EHV-1 Ab4p UL11 was localized to juxtanuclear and Golgi regions as reported
by other researchers. We found that no progeny viruses were produced by transfection of fetal equine kidney cells and rabbit
kidney (RK-13) cells with the UL11 null mutant and truncation mutant BAC DNAs. However, mutant viruses were generated
after transfection of RK13-UL11 cells constitutively expressing EHV-1 UL11 with the mutant BAC DNAs. In conclusion,
UL11 of EHV-1 Ab4p is essential for replication in cultured cells.