“…Except for channel catfish herpesvirus, UL24 protein is conserved in the whole herpesvirus family ( Davison, 1992 ; Bertrand et al, 2010 ). The proteins encoded by the HCMV UL76, VZV ORF35, KSHV ORF20 and EHV-1 ORF37 genes also belong to the herpesvirus UL24 protein family ( Bateman et al, 2004 ; Ito et al, 2005 ; Kasem et al, 2010 ; Hoffman et al, 2021 ). Except for the HCMV UL76 gene, the UL24 genes and TK genes of other herpesviruses are arranged in a head-to-head manner at the 5′ end ( Figure 1B ; Jacobson et al, 1989 ; Dezélée et al, 1996 ; Shimojima et al, 1997 ; Pearson and Coen, 2002 ; Ito et al, 2005 ; Li et al, 2006 ).…”