Abstract: The role of in vivo long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence variation of the lentivirus equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) has not been explored. In this study, we investigated the heterogeneity found in the LTR sequences from seven EIAV-seropositive horses: three horses with clinical disease and four horses without any detectable signs of disease. LTR sequences were targeted in this study because the LTR U3 enhancer region of tissue culture-derived isolates has been identified as one of the few hypervariable regions of the EIAV genome. Furthermore, LTR variation may regulate EIAV expression in vivo. Both intra- and interanimal sequence variations were investigated. The intra-animal variation was low in seropositive, healthy horses (on average 0.44%). Intra-animal variation was consistently higher in clinically ill horses (0.99%), suggesting that greater numbers of quasispecies of EIAV are present when active virus replication is ongoing. Interanimal comparisons of consensus sequences generated from each horse demonstrated that the enhancer region is a hotspot of sequence variation in vivo. Thirty-seven of the 83 nucleotides that compose the U3 enhancer region were variable between the different in vivo-derived LTRs. The remainder of the LTR that was analyzed was more conserved, 8 of 195 nucleotide positions being variable. Results of electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that some nucleotide substitutions that occurred in the enhancer region eliminated or altered transcription factor binding motifs that are known to be important for EIAV LTR expression. These data suggested that the selective pressures exerted on the EIAV LTR enhancer sequences are different from those exerted on the remainder of the LTR. Our findings are consistent with the possibility that enhancer sequence hypervariability can alter expression of the virus in tissue macrophages and therefore contribute to clinical disease in infected horses.
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The research explores how variations in the long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence of the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vary across healthy and clinically ill horses.
Study Objective and Methodology
The main aim of the research was to investigate the role of in vivo (within the body) LTR sequence variation of the lentivirus EIAV, a specific kind of virus which has not been previously studied in detail.
For the study, the researchers analyzed LTR sequences from seven EIAV-seropositive horses, that is, horses that tested positive for the virus. Out of these, three had clinical disease while four showed no detectable signs of illness.
The LTR U3 enhancer region of tissue culture-derived isolates was specifically targeted because it had previously been identified as a highly variable region of the EIAV genome.
Findings
Both intra- and inter-animal variation was examined. The researchers discovered that the intra-animal variation (variation within the same animal) was significantly lower in seropositive, healthy horses, with an average of 0.44%.
On the other hand, the intra-animal variation was significantly higher in clinically ill horses, at an average of 0.99%. The researchers inferred from this result that greater numbers of ‘quasispecies’ of EIAV are present when active virus replication is taking place.
Inter-animal comparisons of consensus sequences produced from each horse demonstrated that the enhancer region is a hotspot of sequence variation in vivo.
Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that some nucleotide substitutions occurring in the enhancer region eliminated or altered transcription factor binding motifs. These are known to be crucial for EIAV LTR expression.
Conclusions
The results suggested that the selective pressures exerted on the EIAV LTR enhancer sequences are different from those applied to the remainder of the LTR.
The researchers’ findings are consistent with the possibility that enhancer sequence hyper-variability can alter the expression of the virus in tissue macrophages (immune cells that rid the body of damaged cells), and thus, contribute to clinical disease in infected horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Maury W, Perryman S, Oaks JL, Seid BK, Crawford T, McGuire T, Carpenter S.
(1997).
Localized sequence heterogeneity in the long terminal repeats of in vivo isolates of equine infectious anemia virus.
J Virol, 71(7), 4929-4937.
https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.71.7.4929-4937.1997
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