FHV-1 mutants deficient in gC, PK, gE, or both gE and TK have been generated by BAC clone recombineering.
PK−, gE−, and gE−TK− mutants produced smaller plaques than the parent strain.
Except for the gC− mutant, the in vitro growth characteristics of the mutants were similar to those of the parent strain.
These mutants will be useful for molecular pathogenesis studies and vaccine development.