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ABSTRACT
A series of hybrid viruses between murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and foamy virus (FV) have been constructed. The chimeric viruses bear the inner core of MuLV and differ in the composition of their outer glycoproteins, which were delivered from FV. Four of hybrid viruses were replication competent and their biological properties, including host cell range and cytopathogenicity, were characterized in vitro. Compared with wild-type MuLV the himeras have the extended host cell range of FV, which is mainly specified by the receptor binding domain of envelope. This portion of the hybrids was from FV. In cell cultures hybrids replicate to lower cell-free virus titters compared to the two parental viruses. A cytopathic effect similar to that of FV and characterized by the formation of multinucleated giant cells was observed in HT1080, M.dunni and NIH3T3 cells infected with hybrid viruses. The MuLV/FV himeras are a new model that will be useful for a variety of retrovirus pathogenesis and vaccine studies.