Duplicated Sequence Motif in the Long Terminal Repeat of Maedi-Visna Virus Extends Cell Tropism and Is Associated with Neurovirulence

Abstract excerpt

Maedi-visna virus (MVV) is a lentivirus of sheep causing chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs (maedi) and the nervous system (visna). We have previously shown that a duplicated sequence in the long terminal repeat (LTR) of MVV is a determinant of cell tropism. Here, we demonstrate that deletion of a CAAAT sequence from either one of the repeats resulted in poor virus growth in sheep choroid plexus cells. A...