Baboon endogenous virus genome: molecular cloning and structural characterization of nondefective viral genomes from DNA of a baboon cell strain.

Several heterogeneities in the baboon endogenous virus (BaEV) genomes that are present in the DNA of normal baboon tissues and the baboon cell strain BEF-3 have been described previously. To study these genomes, we cloned BaEV proviruses from BEF-3 cellular DNA into the lambda vector Charon 4A. Of the four full-length clones isolated, one was nondefective as determined by transfection. The sequence of a portion of this clone was found to code for amino acids 61-91 in the p30 region of the gag gene. This identification allowed us to align the restriction map with the BaEV genetic map. One heterogeneity, a BamHI site 2.4 kilobases (kb) from the proviral 5' end, was located close to the gag-pol junction; another, a BamHI site 1.4 kb from the 5' end of the genome, corresponded to the gag p30 coding sequence for amino acids 32-34; and a third, a Xho I site, was near the 3' end of the pol gene. To select the nondefective BaEV genomes from BEF-3 cells, we infected permissive cells with virus produced by BEF-3 cells and also transfected BEF-3 cellular DNA into permissive cells. The BaEV genomes in the permissive recipient cultures were then analyzed by restriction enzyme analysis. These nondefective genomes were found to be heterogeneous with respect to the gag-pol BamHI site and the Xho I site, but all were found to contain the BamHI site 1.4 kb from the 5' end of the genome.