Overbaugh J, Riedel N, Hoover E A, Mullins J I
Department of Cancer Biology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Nature. 1988 Apr 21;332(6166):731-4. doi: 10.1038/332731a0.
Feline leukaemia viruses (FeLV) are exogenous retroviruses that can be detected in most cats with leukaemia, aplastic anaemia, myeloproliferative diseases and fatal immunosuppression. FeLV isolates have been divided into three subgroups, based on the viral envelope-determined properties of interference and host range in vitro. FeLV-A is present in all natural isolates and is generally minimally pathogenic. FeLV-B is found with FeLV-A in isolates from approximately 40% of natural infections and in a higher percentage of cats with lymphoma. Following the fundamental observations of genetic reassortment of avian retroviruses with endogenous viral genes and the origination of lymphomagenic viruses during the ontogeny of AKR mice, we show here that transfection of feline cells with FeLV-A DNA results in its recombination with endogenous FeLV-related sequences to produce viruses with the structural and host range properties of FeLV-B. Thus in vitro propagation of a retrovirus may result in the generation of variants with very different properties.
猫白血病病毒（FeLV）是外源性逆转录病毒，在大多数患有白血病、再生障碍性贫血、骨髓增殖性疾病和致命免疫抑制的猫中都能检测到。根据病毒包膜决定的体外干扰特性和宿主范围，FeLV分离株已被分为三个亚组。FeLV-A存在于所有自然分离株中，通常致病性最低。在约40%的自然感染分离株以及更高比例的淋巴瘤猫中，FeLV-B与FeLV-A同时存在。继对禽逆转录病毒与内源性病毒基因的基因重排以及AKR小鼠个体发育过程中淋巴瘤病毒起源的基础观察之后，我们在此表明，用FeLV-A DNA转染猫细胞会导致其与内源性FeLV相关序列重组，从而产生具有FeLV-B结构和宿主范围特性的病毒。因此，逆转录病毒的体外增殖可能导致产生具有非常不同特性的变体。
