MBE Advance Access first published online on February 23, 2008
This version published online on February 28, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msn054
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Research Article |
Ancient DNA Identification of Early 20th Century Simian T-cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (STLV-1)
* Université de Lyon, F-69003, France ; Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle ; INRA, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure, F-69364, France; 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. E-mail : sebastien.calvignac{at}gmail.com and catherine.hanni{at}ens-lyon.fr
£ Université de Lyon, F-69003, France ; Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire de la Cellule ; CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure, F-69364, France; 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. E-mail : jmterme{at}ens-lyon.fr and pierre.jalinot{at}ens-lyon.fr
# Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, Mills Godwin Building 108
E , Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. Email: shens003{at}odu.edu and agreenwo{at}odu.edu
Corresponding author: Catherine HÄNNI, Paléogénétique et Evolution Moléculaire ; Université de Lyon, F-69003, France ; Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle ; INRA, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure, F-69364, France; 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France, 33 4 72 72 84 63, 33 4 72 72 80 80, catherine.hanni{at}ens-lyon.fr
Received for publication July 27, 2007. Revision received February 8, 2008. Accepted for publication February 19, 2008.
The molecular identification of proviruses from ancient tissues (and particularly from bones) remains a contentious issue. It can be expected that the copy number of proviruses will be low, which magnifies the risk of contamination with retroviruses from exogenous sources. To assess the feasibility of paleoretrovirological studies, we attempted to identify proviruses from early 20th century bones of museum specimens while following a strict ancient DNA methodology. STLV-1 sequences were successfully obtained and authenticated from a Chlorocebus tantalus specimen. This represents the first clear evidence that it will be possible to use museum specimens to better characterize simian and human T-tropic retrovirus genetic diversity and analyze their origin and evolution, in greater detail.
Key Words: ancient DNA STLV-1 SIV Chlorocebus
Author names have been updated.