Small ruminant lentivirus proviral sequences from wild ibexes in contact with domestic goats

• Published in: Journal of general virology Vol. 89; no. 6; pp. 1478 - 1484
• Main Authors: Erhouma, Esadk, Guiguen, Francois, Chebloune, Yahia, Gauthier, Dominique, Mselli Lakhal, Laila, Greenland, Timothy, Mornex, Jean Francois, Leroux, Caroline, Alogninouwa, Theodore
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.06.2008; Society for General Microbiology; Microbiology Society
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Animals, Wild - virology; Biological and medical sciences; Capra ibex; Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus; disease transmission; DNA; Female; France; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gag gene; Gene Products, gag - genetics; genes; goat diseases; Goat Diseases - virology; goats; Goats - virology; Lentivirus; Lentivirus - classification; Lentivirus - genetics; Lentivirus - isolation & purification; Lentivirus Infections - veterinary; Lentivirus Infections - virology; Life Sciences; Male; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; proviruses; Proviruses - classification; Proviruses - genetics; Proviruses - isolation & purification; Ruminantia; Sequence Alignment; Species Specificity; terminal repeat sequences; Terminal Repeat Sequences - genetics; Virology; wildlife diseases; France; Virus; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Microbiology; Retroviridae; Goat; Artiodactyla; Lentivirus; Ungulata; Provirus; MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION; PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS; MATRIX PROTEIN; SHEEP; OVINE LENTIVIRUSES; CAPRINE; MAEDI-VISNA; ARTHRITIS-ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS; NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE; NATURAL TRANSMISSION
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.2008/000364-0

Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) are widespread amongst domesticated goats and sheep worldwide, but have not been clearly identified in wild small ruminants, where they might constitute an animal health risk through contamination from local domesticates. SRLV proviruses from three ibexes from the French Alps are described and sequences from their gag gene and long terminal repeats (LTRs) were compared with sequences from local goats and goat/ibex hybrids. The ibex and hybrid proviruses formed a closely related group with <2 % nucleotide difference. Their LTRs were clearly distinct from those of local goats or reference SRLV sequences; however, their gag sequences resembled those from one local goat and reference sequences from caprine arthritis encephalitis virus rather than visna/maedi virus. One SRLV-positive ibex from a distant site shared similarities with the other ibexes studied in both its gag and LTR sequences, suggesting that a distinct SRLV population could circulate in some wild ibex populations.