Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of a new STLV-I from a naturally infected tantalus monkey from Central Africa.
Simian T-cell leukemia virus (STLV-I) is an oncovirus highly related to human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I). To further examine the extent of variability, dissemination patterns, phylogeny, and evolution of these viruses, we analyzed a new STLV-I variant from a naturally infected Cercopithecus aethiops var. tantalus from the Central African Republic. Sequence analyses of its LTR, gag, pol, env, and pX (OrfII) genes indicated that this isolate, STLV-I (Tan 90), is 6% divergent from the prototype HTLV-I (ATK) and is the most divergent African STLV-I characterized to date. Our phylogenetic data indicate that southeast Asian and African STLV-I and HTLV-I strains segregated from each other thousands of years ago and that Japanese HTLV-I strains represent a relatively recent introduction of African or New World isolates. The data also indicate that interspecies transmission occurred several times on different continents over prolonged periods of time.
Saksena
N K
NK
Department of Medicine and Microbiology, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, New York 13210.
Hervé
V
V
Sherman
M P
MP
Durand
J P
JP
Mathiot
C
C
Müller
M
M
Love
J L
JL
LeGuenno
B
B
Sinoussi
F B
FB
Dube
D K
DK
D000350:Africa, Central; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002521:Cercopithecus / Q000382:microbiology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015303:Simian T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*
D004279:DNA, Viral