Molecular cloning of the unintegrated squirrel monkey retrovirus genome: organization and distribution of related sequences in primate DNAs

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Abstract
The closed circular form of the endogenous squirrel monkey type D retrovirus (SMRV) was molecularly cloned in a bacteriophage vector. The restriction map of the biologically active clone was determined and found to be identical to that of the parental SMRV linear DNA except for the deletion of 1 long terminal repeat. Retriction enzyme analysis and southern blotting indicated that the SMRV long terminal repeat was .apprx. 300 base pairs long. The SMRV restriction map was oriented to the viral RNA by using a gene-specific probe from baboon endogenous virus. Restriction enzyme digests of a variety of vertebrate DNA were analyzed for DNA sequence homology with SMRV by using the cloned SMRV genome as a probe. Consistent with earlier studies, multiple copies of SMRV were detected in squirrel monkey DNA. Related fragments were also detected in the DNA from other primate species, including humans.