Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Direct demonstration of retroviral recombination in a rhesus monkey.
J Virol. 1997 Dec;71(12):9650-3. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98037680 Wooley DP; Smith RA; Czajak S; Desrosiers RC; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wright State University; School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio 45435, USA.
Abstract:
Recombination may be an important mechanism for increasing variation in retroviral populations. Retroviral recombination has been demonstrated in tissue culture systems by artificially creating doubly infected cells. Evidence for retroviral recombination in vivo is indirect and is based principally on the identification of apparently mosaic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 genomes from phylogenetic analyses of viral sequences. We infected a rhesus monkey with two different molecularly cloned strains of simian immunodeficiency virus. One strain of virus had a deletion in vpx and vpr, and the other strain had a deletion in nef. Each strain on its own induced low virus loads and was nonpathogenic in rhesus monkeys. When injected simultaneously into separate legs of the same monkey, persistent high virus loads and declines in CD4+ lymphocyte concentrations were observed. Analysis of proviral DNA isolated directly from peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed that full-length, nondeleted SIVmac239 predominated by 2 weeks after infection. These results provide direct experimental evidence for genetic recombination between two different retroviral strains in an infected host. The results illustrate the ease and rapidity with which recombination can occur in an infected animal and the selection that can occur for variants generated by genetic recombination.
Keywords: *Genes, nef *Genes, vpr *Lentivirus Infections/VETERINARY *Recombination, Genetic *Retroviridae Proteins/GENETICS *SIV/GENETICS *Viral Regulatory Proteins/GENETICS 980330
M9831173
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.