Although retrovirus egress and budding have been partly unraveled, little is known about early stages of the replication cycle. In particular, retroviral uncoating, a process during which incoming retroviral cores are altered to allow the integration of the viral genome into host chromosomes, is poorly understood. To get insights into these early events of the retroviral cycle, we have used foa...

Recent studies suggest that low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) often modulate normal intracellular signalling pathways, determine cell fates and control cell proliferation. We found that infection of astrocytes with the neuropathogenic retrovirus ts1, a mutant of Moloney murine leukemia retrovirus, upregulated ROS at low levels during the early phase of infection. This upregulation of ...

Using less stringent hybridization conditions and cloned viral DNA probes representing the avian sarcoma virus gag, pol, env, and long terminal repeat (LTR) gene sequences, we detected related sequences in two avian species purportedly lacking all endogenous avian leukosis viruses, the ev- chicken and the Japanese quail. The blot hybridization patterns obtained with the various probes suggest t...

Gibbon ape leukaemia virus (GALV) and koala retrovirus (KoRV) share a remarkably close sequence identity despite the fact that they occur in distantly related mammals on different continents. It has previously been suggested that infection of their respective hosts may have occurred as a result of a species jump from another, as yet unidentified vertebrate host. To investigate possible sources ...

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are among the most common infectious diseases of cats. Although vaccines are available for both viruses, identification and segregation of infected cats form the cornerstone for preventing new infections. Guidelines in this report have been developed for veterinary practices, breeders, shelters, and cat owners to use for diagn...