NEW VARIANT OF SIMIAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC RETR OVIRUS (STLV-1F) AMONG PAPIO-HAMADRYAS OF SUKHUMI MONKEY STOCK

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed for the detection of sim ian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) infection of P. hamadryas and direct sequencing using oligonucleotide primer paiers specific for th e tax and env regions of the related human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). Excellent specificity was shown in the detection of STLV-1 provirus in infected baboons by PCR using HTLV-1-derived primers. The nucleotide sequences of env 467bp and tax 159bp of the proviral genome (env position 5700-6137, tax position 7373-7498 HTLV-1, according to Seiki et al., 1983) derived from STLV-1-infected P. hamadryas were ana lysed using PCR and direct sequencing techniques. Two STLV-1 isolates from different sources (Sukhumi main-SuTLV-1 and forest stocks-STLV-1F ) were compared. Two variants of STLV-1 among P. hamadryas with differ ent level of homology to HTLV-1 were wound (83.8 % and 95.2 %, respect ively). A possible role of nucleotide changes in env and tax sequenced fragments and oncogenicity of STLV-1 variants is discussed.