Erratic G → A hypermutation within a complete caprine arthritis- encephalitis virus (CAEV) provirus

Abstract

The complete nucleotide sequence of an integrated provirus of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) has been determined. The provirus was defective due to extensive G → A hypermutation. Rather than being 8 smooth phenomenon distributed throughout the genome it was highly erratic with hypermutated and normal regions being juxtaposed, probably reflecting local fluctuations in the intracellular dCTP pool during reverse transcription of the CAEV genome. The pattern of sequence variation within the surface glycoproteins differs subtly from that of the primate lentiviruses. © 1995 Academic Press, Inc.