title: Human foamy virus replication: a pathway distinct from that of retroviruses and hepadnaviruses.
abstract: Human foamy virus (HFV) is the prototype of the Spumavirus genus of Retroviridae. In all other retroviruses, the pol gene products, including reverse transcriptase, are synthesized as Gag-Pol fusion proteins and are cleaved to functional enzymes during viral budding or release. In contrast, the Pol protein of HFV is translated from a spliced messenger RNA and lacks Gag domains. Infectious HFV particles contain double-stranded DNA similar in size to full-length provirus, suggesting that reverse transcription has taken place in viral particles before new rounds of infection, reminiscent of hepadnaviruses. These data suggest that foamy viruses possess a replication pathway containing features of both retroviruses and hepadnaviruses but distinct from both.
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gwynn
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yendapalli
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Linial
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006224:Cricetinae; D015685:Fusion Proteins, gag-pol / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015684:Gene Products, pol / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015750:Genes, gag; D015751:Genes, pol; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D016092:Spumavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D015685:Fusion Proteins, gag-pol; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015684:Gene Products, pol; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase