RESUMO
We report the complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of Rauscher murine leukemia virus (R-MuLV), the replication-competent helper virus present in the Rauscher virus complex, and its phylogenetic relationship with other murine leukemia virus genomes. An overall sequence identity of 97.6% was found between R-MuLV and the Friend helper virus (F-MuLV), and the two viruses were closely related on the phylogenetic trees constructed from either gag, pol, or env sequences. Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) was the next closest relative to R-MuLV and F-MuLV on all trees, followed by Akv and radiation leukemia virus (RadLV). The most distantly related helper virus was Hortulanus murine leukemia virus (Ho-MuLV). Interestingly, Cas-Br-E branched with Mo-MuLV on the gag and pol trees, whereas on the env tree, it revealed the highest degree of relatedness to Ho-MuLV, possibly due to an ancient recombination with an Ho-MuLV ancestor. In summary, a phylogenetic analysis involving various MuLVs has been performed, in which the postulated close relationship between R-MuLV and F-MuLV has been confirmed, consistent with the pathobiology of the two viruses.
