Zhang Z, Du Tremblay D, Lang B F, Martineau D
Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada.
Virology. 1996 Nov 15;225(2):406-12. doi: 10.1006/viro.1996.0616.
Walleye dermal sarcoma virus (WDSV) is a newly described retrovirus that is etiologically associated with a multifocal skin tumor of a fish common in North America, the walleye. Tumor prevalence ranges from 27% of adult walleyes in a densely populated lake, Oneida Lake, New York, to 1% in less populated waters. Phylogenetic analysis of the surface (SU) domain of the WDSV envelope gene of isolates from different regions of North America showed that viral isolates formed distinct clusters according to their geographic origin, except viral isolates from Oneida Lake, which were also much more variable. Viral clones isolated from an individual tumor had identical nucleotide sequences. This finding is consistent with tumors developing from single infected dermal cells, and supports the etiological role of this virus in tumor development. Like in other retroviruses, the SU domain of the WDSV env gene was more variable than gag, and the ratio of nonsynonymous over synonymous mutations was comparable to that of the V3 loop of HIV-1. These findings indicate that WDSV SU is the object of strong selective immunologic pressures, like the SU domain of other retroviruses.
角膜白斑皮肤肉瘤病毒（WDSV）是一种新描述的逆转录病毒，在病因上与北美常见鱼类角膜白斑的多灶性皮肤肿瘤有关。肿瘤患病率从纽约奥奈达湖（一个人口密集的湖泊）中27%的成年角膜白斑鱼，到人口较少水域中的1%不等。对来自北美不同地区的WDSV包膜基因表面（SU）结构域的分离株进行系统发育分析表明，病毒分离株根据其地理来源形成了不同的簇，但来自奥奈达湖的病毒分离株除外，后者的变异性也更大。从单个肿瘤中分离出的病毒克隆具有相同的核苷酸序列。这一发现与肿瘤由单个感染的皮肤细胞发展而来一致，并支持这种病毒在肿瘤发展中的病因学作用。与其他逆转录病毒一样，WDSV env基因的SU结构域比gag更具变异性，非同义突变与同义突变的比率与HIV-1的V3环相当。这些发现表明，WDSV SU像其他逆转录病毒的SU结构域一样，是强大的选择性免疫压力的目标。
