Key result
Endogenous viral DNA in uninfected chicken cells is fairly constant at 2-6 copies/cell, but proviral gene expression varies by up to 500-fold based on genetically determined phenotypes.
Genetic control of proviral expression in avian models may guide latency research; leaves open human endogenous retrovirus implications.
DNA sequences closely related to Rous-associated virus-0 (RAV-0) are present in the chromosomal material of most uninfected chicken cells (Rosenthal et al. 1971; Baluda 1972; Varmus et al. 1972; Neiman 1973). Although the amount of endogenous viral DNA in cells from different embryos is fairly constant (usu-ally about 2-6 copies/cell), the level of proviral gene expression varies by as much as 500-fold (Payne and Chubb 1968; Weiss and Payne 1971; Hanafusa et al. 1972; Hayward and Hanafusa 1973). The patterns of expression are genetically determined (for review, see Robinson 1978), but little is known about the mechanism that regulates this expression. Cells from different embryos can be classified into several distinct phenotypes based on their content of viral group-specific (gs) antigen and chick helper factor
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Hayward et al. (1980) studied Endogenous Avian Proviruses. Endogenous viral DNA in uninfected chicken cells is fairly constant at 2-6 copies/cell, but proviral gene expression varies by up to 500-fold based on genetically determined phenotypes.