Journal of Virology, November 2000, p. 10658-10669, Vol. 74, No. 22
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
ENS/INSERM U 412, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07,1 and Unité INSERM U384, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand,2 France, and Interdepartmental Center for Electron Microscopy, Tuscia University, 00100 Viterbo, Italy3
Received 3 May 2000/Accepted 4 August 2000
ZAM is an env-containing member of the gypsy family of retrotransposons that represents a possible retrovirus of invertebrates. In this paper, we traced ZAM mobilization to get information about a potential path a retroelement may take to reach the germ line of its host. In situ hybridization on whole-mount tissues and immunocytochemistry analyses with antibodies raised against ZAM Gag and Env proteins have shown that all components necessary to assemble ZAM viral particles, i.e., ZAM full-length RNAs and Gag and Env polypeptides, are coexpressed in a small set of follicle cells surrounding the oocyte. By electron microscopy, we have shown that ZAM viral particles are indeed detected in this somatic lineage of cells, which they leave and enter the closely apposed oocyte. Our data provide evidence that the vesicular traffic and yolk granules in the process of vitellogenesis play an important role in ZAM transfer to the oocyte. Our data support the possibility that vitellogenin transfer to the oocyte may help a retroelement pass to the germ line with no need of its envelope product.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | Mol. Cell. Biol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|