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Journal of Virology, March 2001, p. 2771-2775, Vol. 75, No. 6
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.6.2771-2775.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Multiple Groups of Novel Retroviral Genomes in Pigs and Related Species

Clive Patience,1,2 William M. Switzer,3 Yasuhiro Takeuchi,1,4 David J. Griffiths,1,4 Melanie E. Goward,1 Walid Heneine,3 Jonathan P. Stoye,5 and Robin A. Weiss1,4,*

Institute of Cancer Research,1 University College London,4 and National Institute for Medical Research,5 London, United Kingdom; Bio Transplant Incorporated, Charlestown, Massachusetts2; and HIV and Retrovirology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia3

Received 5 September 2000/Accepted 20 December 2000

In view of the concern over potential infection hazards in the use of porcine tissues and organs for xenotransplantation to humans, we investigated the diversity of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) genomes in the DNA of domestic pigs and related species. In addition to the three known envelope subgroups of infectious gamma retroviruses (PERV-A, -B, and -C), classed together here as PERV group gamma 1, four novel groups of gamma retrovirus (gamma 2 to gamma 5) and four novel groups of beta retrovirus (beta 1 to beta 4) genomes were detected in pig DNA using generic and specific PCR primers. PCR quantification indicated that the retroviral genome copy number in the Landrace × Duroc F1 hybrid pig ranged from 2 (beta 2 and gamma 5) to approximately 50 (gamma 1). The gamma 1, gamma 2, and beta 4 genomes were transcribed into RNA in adult kidney tissue. Apart from gamma 1, the retroviral genomes are not known to be infectious, and sequencing of a small number of amplified genome fragments revealed stop codons in putative open reading frames in several cases. Analysis of DNA from wild boar and other species of Old World pigs (Suidae) and New World peccaries (Tayassuidae) showed that one retrovirus group, beta 2, was common to all species tested, while the others were present among all Old World species but absent from New World species. The PERV-C subgroup of gamma 1 genomes segregated among domestic pigs and were absent from two African species (red river hog and warthog). Thus domestic swine and their phylogenetic relatives harbor multiple groups of hitherto undescribed PERV genomes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Wohl Virion Centre, Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, University College London, 46 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JF, UK. Phone: 44 20 7679 9554. Fax: 44 20 7679 9555. E-mail: r.weiss{at}ucl.ac.uk.

Journal of Virology, March 2001, p. 2771-2775, Vol. 75, No. 6
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.6.2771-2775.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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