Breuer Judith

Keynote Lecture Abstract

CMV reactivation and reinfection

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common cause of congenital infection and associated disability affecting thousands of babies worldwide.  Maternal immunity is partially protective, but infection and disability still occur in children born to CMV immune mothers. Our genomic analyses of CMV genomes HIV positive mothers and their congenitally and postnatally infected children identified compartmentalisation of breast and cervical sequences.   CMV genome sequences from congenitally infected babies clustered with cervical sequences while those from postnatally infected babies clustered with breast milk .  Longitudinal analysis of maternal breast milk samples revealed mixed and super-infections with changes in the frequency of different CMV genotypes over time. We identified particular regions with the CMV genomes of congenitally infected infants that were more similar than expected by chance, suggesting that congenitally transmitted CMV may share certain characteristics.   WE have further characterised the CMV genome to define better how variation occurs and will now use these data to test hypotheses about genomic variation in relation to biological phenotype.