Equine infectious anemia virus derived from a molecular clone persistently infects horses.
A full-length molecular clone of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was isolated from a persistently infected canine fetal thymus cell line (Cf2Th). Upon transfection of equine dermis cells, the clone, designated CL22, yielded infectious EIAV particles (CL22-V) that replicated in vitro in both Cf2Th cells and an equine dermis cell strain. Horses infected with CL22-V developed an antibody response to viral proteins and possessed viral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as determined by polymerase chain reaction assays. In addition, horses infected with CL22-V became persistently infected and were capable of transmitting the infection by transfer of whole blood to uninfected horses. However, CL22-V, like the parental canine cell-adapted virus, did not cause clinical signs in infected horses. Reverse transcriptase assays of CL22-V- and virulent EIAV-infected equine mononuclear cell cultures indicated that the lack of virulence of CL22-V was not due to an inability to infect and replicate in equine mononuclear cells in vitro.
Whetter
L
L
Department of Microbiology, Pathology & Parasitology, North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh 27606.
Archambault
D
D
Perry
S
S
Gazit
A
A
Coggins
L
L
Yaniv
A
A
Clabough
D
D
Dahlberg
J
J
Fuller
F
F
Tronick
S
S
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004859:Equine Infectious Anemia / Q000382:microbiology*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D004860:Infectious Anemia Virus, Equine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012867:Skin; D014162:Transfection; D014779:Virus Replication