Discovery of a new endogenous type C retrovirus (FcEV) in cats: evidence for RD-114 being an FcEV(Gag-Pol)/baboon endogenous virus BaEV(Env) recombinant.
Analysis of a cat genomic DNA library showed that cats harbor a previously unrecognized endogenous type C retrovirus, whose env gene has homology to the murine Fv-4 resistance gene. This unique retrovirus, designated FcEV (Felis catus endogenous retrovirus), has a type C pol gene, closely related to the primate Papio cynocephalus endogenous virus (PcEV) pol, not overlapping the env gene, unlike in other type C retroviruses, and is presumably present in a higher copy number than RD-114. Phylogenetic analysis of FcEV and RD-114 fragments amplified from cat species and comparison with baboon endogenous virus (BaEV) fragments from monkeys suggested that RD-114 does not represent the cat strain of BaEV but is actually a new recombinant between FcEV type C genes and the env gene of BaEV. Although BaEV did appear to have infected an ancestor of the domestic cat lineage, it was a de novo recombinant that made its way into the cat germ line.
van der Kuyl
A C
AC
Department of Human Retrovirology, Academic Medical Centre, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. a.c.vanderkuyl@amc.uva.nl
Dekker
J T
JT
Goudsmit
J
J
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002415:Cats / Q000821:virology*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010215:Papio / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins