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Journal of Virology, August 2002, p. 7607-7615, Vol. 76, No. 15
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.15.7607-7615.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification and Characterization of Two Closely Related Unclassifiable Endogenous Retroviruses in Pythons (Python molurus and Python curtus)

Jon B. Huder,1 Jürg Böni,1 Jean-Michel Hatt,2 Guido Soldati,3 Hans Lutz,4 and Jörg Schüpbach1*

Swiss National Center for Retroviruses, University of Zurich, CH-8028 Zurich,1 Division of Zoo Animals and Exotic Pets, Department of Reproductive Veterinary Medicine,,2 Institute of Veterinary Pathology,3 Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Internal Veterinary Medicine, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland4

Received 31 January 2002/ Accepted 23 April 2002

Boid inclusion body disease (BIBD) is a fatal disorder of boid snakes that is suspected to be caused by a retrovirus. In order to identify this agent, leukocyte cultures (established from Python molurus specimens with symptoms of BIBD or kept together with such diseased animals) were assessed for reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. Virus from cultures exhibiting high RT activity was banded on sucrose density gradients, and the RT peak fraction was subjected to highly efficient procedures for the identification of unknown particle-associated retroviral RNA. A 7-kb full retroviral sequence was identified, cloned, and sequenced. This virus contained intact open reading frames (ORFs) for gag, pro, pol, and env, as well as another ORF of unknown function within pol. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus is distantly related to viruses from both the B and D types and the mammalian C type but cannot be classified. It is present as a highly expressed endogenous retrovirus in all P. molurus individuals; a closely related, but much less expressed virus was found in all tested Python curtus individuals. All other boid snakes tested, including Python regius, Python reticulatus, Boa constrictor, Eunectes notaeus, and Morelia spilota, were virus negative, independent of whether they had BIBD or not. Virus isolated from P. molurus could not be transmitted to the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of B. constrictor or P. regius. Thus, there is no indication that this novel virus, which we propose to name python endogenous retrovirus (PyERV), is causally linked with BIBD.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Swiss National Center for Retroviruses, University of Zurich, Gloriastrasse 30, CH-8028 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41-1-634-3803. Fax: 41-1-634-4965. E-mail: jschupb{at}immv.unizh.ch.

Journal of Virology, August 2002, p. 7607-7615, Vol. 76, No. 15
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JVI.76.15.7607-7615.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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