title: Replication-competent hybrids between murine leukemia virus and foamy virus.
abstract: Replication-competent chimeric retroviruses constructed of members of the two subfamilies of Retroviridae, orthoretroviruses and spumaretroviruses, specifically murine leukemia viruses (MuLV) bearing hybrid MuLV-foamy virus (FV) envelope (env) genes, were characterized. All viruses had the cytoplasmic tail of the MuLV transmembrane protein. In ESL-1, a truncated MuLV leader peptide (LP) was fused to the complete extracellular portion of FV Env, and ESL-2 to -4 contained the complete MuLV-LP followed by N-terminally truncated FV Env decreasing in size. ESL-1 to -4 had an extended host cell range compared to MuLV, induced a cytopathology reminiscent of FVs, and exhibited an ultrastructure that combined the features of the condensed core of MuLV with the prominent surface knobs of FVs. Replication of ESL-2 to -4 resulted in the acquisition of a stop codon at the N terminus of the chimeric Env proteins. This mutation rendered the MuLV-LP nonfunctional and indicated that the truncated FV-LP was sufficient to direct Env synthesis into the secretory pathway. Compared to the parental viruses, the chimeras replicated with only moderate cell-free titers.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie, Medizinische Fakultät, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Evelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shikova-Lekova
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lindemann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pietschmann
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Juretzek
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: Ottmar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Herchenröder
authors.forename: Hans R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Gelderblom
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rethwilm
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006801:Humans; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016092:Spumavirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral