The long-term objective of this project is to identify a lentivirus (LV) which can be used to develop a suitable model for AIDS research. The questions we ask are: - Are there naturally occurring lentiviruses in wild mice populations? If so in which taxa or sub-taxa of the genus mus do they occur and are they ubiquitous or limited geographically to certain populations? - What are their molecular structures and how do they relate to those of other known LVs? - What kind of pathogenicity, if any, do they provoke in their natural host, which tissues are infected, and what is their mode of transmission? Wild animals from various geographical locations will be trapped and kept alive for a sufficient period of time to: - observe their pathology if any, - collect sera and screen for LV antibodies, - culture peripheral blood lymphocytes to test for the presence of lentiviruses (assay of reverse transcriptase activity, PCR tests with LV specific oligonucleotides..... In the case of a positive result, procedures to distinguish a potential mouse LV from other endogenous or exogenous retroviruses will be performed, including co-cultures and electron microscopy. One identified, the virus will be isolated and its ability to infect the different mouse strains in the Montpellier murine repository will be assessed.
