Proviral progeny of heterodimeric virions reveal a high crossover rate for human immunodeficiency virus type 2.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS in humans, exhibits a very high rate of recombination. Bearing in mind the significant epidemiological and clinical contrast between HIV-2 and HIV-1 as well as the critical role that recombination plays in viral evolution, we examined the nature of HIV-2 recombination. Towards this end, a strategy was devised to measure the rate of crossover of HIV-2 by evaluating recombinant progeny produced exclusively by heterodimeric virions. The results showed that HIV-2 exhibits a crossover rate similar to that of HIV-1 and murine leukemia virus, indicating that the extremely high rate of crossover is a common retroviral feature.
Mukherjee
Sayandip
S
Department of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
Lee
Hui-Ling Rose
HL
Ron
Yacov
Y
Dougherty
Joseph P
JP
D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics*; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics*