TY - JOUR
T1 - The S2 gene of equine infectious anemia virus is dispensable for viral replication in vitro
AU - Li, F.
AU - Puffer, B. A.
AU - Montelaro, R. C.
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) contains the simplest genome among lentiviruses in that it encodes only three putative regulatory genes (S1, S2, S3) in addition to the canonical gag, pol, and env genes, presumably reflecting its limited tropism to cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage. Tat and Rev functions have been assigned to S1 and S3, respectively, but the specific function for the S2 gene has yet to be determined. Thus, the function of S2 in virus replication in vitro was investigated by using an infectious molecular vital clone, EIAV(UK). Various EIAV(UK) mutants lacking S2 were constructed, and their replication kinetics were examined in several equine cell culture systems, including the natural in vivo target equine macrophage cells. The EIAV S2 mutants showed replication kinetics similar to those of the parental virus in all of the tested primary and transformed equine cell cultures, without any detectable reversion of mutant genomes. The EIAV(UK) mutants also showed replication kinetics similar to those of the parental virus in an equine blood monocyte differentiation-maturation system. These results demonstrate for the first time that the EIAV S2 gene is not essential and does not appear to affect virus infection and replication properties in target cells in vitro.
AB - Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) contains the simplest genome among lentiviruses in that it encodes only three putative regulatory genes (S1, S2, S3) in addition to the canonical gag, pol, and env genes, presumably reflecting its limited tropism to cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage. Tat and Rev functions have been assigned to S1 and S3, respectively, but the specific function for the S2 gene has yet to be determined. Thus, the function of S2 in virus replication in vitro was investigated by using an infectious molecular vital clone, EIAV(UK). Various EIAV(UK) mutants lacking S2 were constructed, and their replication kinetics were examined in several equine cell culture systems, including the natural in vivo target equine macrophage cells. The EIAV S2 mutants showed replication kinetics similar to those of the parental virus in all of the tested primary and transformed equine cell cultures, without any detectable reversion of mutant genomes. The EIAV(UK) mutants also showed replication kinetics similar to those of the parental virus in an equine blood monocyte differentiation-maturation system. These results demonstrate for the first time that the EIAV S2 gene is not essential and does not appear to affect virus infection and replication properties in target cells in vitro.
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U2 - 10.1128/jvi.72.10.8344-8348.1998
DO - 10.1128/jvi.72.10.8344-8348.1998
M3 - Article
C2 - 9733881
AN - SCOPUS:0031717607
SN - 0022-538X
VL - 72
SP - 8344
EP - 8348
JO - Journal of Virology
JF - Journal of Virology
IS - 10
ER -