Molecular cloning of Mus dunni endogenous virus: an unusual retrovirus in a new murine viral interference group with a wide host range.

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Bonham, L; Wolgamot, G; Miller, A D

Source:

Journal of virology, Volume 71, Issue 6, p.4663-70 (1997)

Keywords:

1997, Animals, Cats, Cells, Cultured, Cloning, Molecular, Coturnix, Cricetinae, Dogs, Genes, Viral, Humans, MICE, Muridae, Rats, Retroviridae, Species Specificity, VIRAL INTERFERENCE, Viral Structural Proteins

Abstract:

Mus dunni endogenous virus (MDEV) is activated from cells of the Asian wild mouse M. dunni (also known as Mus terricolor) in response to treatment with either 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine or hydrocortisone. MDEV represents a new murine retrovirus interference group and thus appears to use a different receptor for entry into cells than do other murine retroviruses. Here we show that MDEV is also not in the gibbon ape leukemia virus or RD114 virus interference groups. A retroviral vector with an MDEV pseudotype was capable of efficiently infecting a wide variety of cells from different species, indicating that the MDEV receptor is widely expressed. We isolated a molecular clone of this virus which exhibited no hybridization to any cloned retrovirus examined, suggesting that MDEV has an unusual genome. One copy of a possible retrovirus element that weakly hybridized with MDEV was present in the genomes of laboratory strains of mice, while no such elements were present in other species examined. A virus activated by 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine from cells of a BALB/c mouse, however, was not related to MDEV by either hybridization or interference analyses.