De novo Assembly of Human Herpes Virus type 1 (HHV-1) Genome, Mining of Non-canonical Structures and Detection of Novel Drug-resistance Mutations using Short- and Long-read Next Generation Sequencing Technologies.. HHV1 denovo

Human herpesvirus type 1 (HHV-1) has a large double-stranded DNA genome of approximately 152 kbp that is structurally complex and GC-rich. To improve the assembly of HHV-1 genomes we have employed a hybrid genome assembly protocol using data from two sequencing technologies: the short-read Roche 454 and the long-read Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencers. The assembly of accurate, full-length HHV-1 genomes will be useful in determining genetic determinants of drug resistance, virulence, pathogenesis and viral evolution. The numerous, complex repeat regions of the HHV-1 genome currently remain a barrier towards this goal.