All herpesviruses are almost indistinguishable in electron micrographs. To view an image of the herpesvirus capsid click here . The repeats allow rearrangements of the unique regions and Herpesvirus genomes exist as a mixture of 4 isomers. Herpesvirus genomes also contain multiple repeated sequences and depending on the number of these, genome size of various isolates of a particular virus can vary by up to 10kbp. Prior to this, the HSV genome had been mapped extensively by a large number of t.s.
Human infection is virtually universal - most adults are seropositive.
The HSV envelope contains at least 9 glycoproteins . Most of these appear to be individually dispensable for infectivity. Fusion deposits the capsid in the cytoplasm, where it migrates to the nucleus . The core enters via a nuclear pore where the genome is circularized. Transcription of the large, complex genome is sequentially regulated in a cascade fashion.