The virion of all herpesviruses consists of an external membrane envelope, a proteinaceous layer called the tegument, and an icosahedral capsid containing the double-stranded linear DNA genome. During productive lytic infection, over 80 viral proteins are expressed in a highly regulated manner, resulting in the replication of viral genomes and assembly of progeny virions. Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) is the causative agent of several pathologies ranging in severity from the common cold sore to life-threatening encephalitic infection.
