Germ-line reinsertions of AKR murine leukemia virus genomes in Akv-1 congenic mice.

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Abstract
Congenic mouse strains NIH.cntdot.Akv-1 and NIH.cntdot.Akv-2 carry the 2 high ecotropic virus-inducing loci of the AKR mouse on the NIH Swiss genetic background. Progeny tests of animals in 3 separate congenic families show that both Akv-1 and Akv-2 are stably transmitted as classical mendelian loci in these mice. During the process of inbreeding, additional chromosomal viral loci were detected in several NIH.cntdot.Akv-1 sublines. These loci appeared only in the progeny of virus-positive females. They segregate with mendelian ratios, are unlinked to markers on chromosome 7 near Akv-1, and are phenotypically expressed as high-virus-inducing loci. The generation of new loci for virus induction, no doubt resulting from the rare germ-line reintegration of the endogenous ecotropic provirus, represents a unique form of gene duplication and rearrangement.