title: Phylogenetic analysis of murine leukemia virus sequences from longitudinally sampled chronic fatigue syndrome patients suggests PCR contamination rather than viral evolution.
abstract: Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus (XMRV) has been amplified from human prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patient samples. Other studies failed to replicate these findings and suggested PCR contamination with a prostate cancer cell line, 22Rv1, as a likely source. MLV-like sequences have also been detected in CFS patients in longitudinal samples 15 years apart. Here, we tested whether sequence data from these samples are consistent with viral evolution. Our phylogenetic analyses strongly reject a model of within-patient evolution and demonstrate that the sequences from the first and second time points represent distinct endogenous murine retroviruses, suggesting contamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13PS, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Aris
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katzourakis
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hué
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kellam
authors.forename: Greg J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Towers
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA