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Viruses in the family Retroviridae are found in a wide variety of vertebrate hosts. Enveloped virions are 80-100 nm in diameter with an inner core containing the viral genome and replicative enzymes. Core morphology is often characteristic for viruses within the same genus. Replication involves reverse transcription and integration into host cell DNA, resulting in a provirus. Integration into germline cells can result in a heritable provirus known as an endogenous retrovirus. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Retroviridae , which is available at ictv.global/report/retroviridae.

A novel group of retroviruses found within the order Crocodylia are described. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that they are probably the most divergent members of the Retroviridae described to date; even the most conserved regions of Pol show an average of only 23% amino acid identity when compared to other retroviruses.

We used the PCR to screen for the presence of endogenous retroviruses within the genomes of 18 vertebrate orders across eight classes, concentrating on reptilian, amphibian, and piscine hosts. Thirty novel retroviral sequences were isolated and characterized by sequencing approximately 1 kb of their encoded protease and reverse transcriptase genes. Isolation of novel viruses from so many disparate hosts suggests that retroviruses are likely to be ubiquitous within all but the most basal vertebrate classes and, furthermore, gives a good indication of the overall retroviral diversity within vertebrates. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that viruses clustering with (but not necessarily closely related to) the spumaviruses and murine leukemia viruses are widespread and abundant in vertebrate genomes. In contrast, we were unable to identify any viruses from hosts outside of mammals and birds which grouped with the other five currently recognized retroviral genera: the lentiviruses, human T-cell leukemia-related viruses, avian leukemia virus-related retroviruses, type D retroviruses, and mammalian type B retroviruses. There was also some indication that viruses isolated from individual vertebrate classes tended to cluster together in phylogenetic reconstructions. This implies that the horizontal transmission of at least some retroviruses, between some vertebrate classes, occurs relatively infrequently. It is likely that many of the retroviral sequences described here are distinct enough from those of previously characterized viruses to represent novel retroviral genera.

Retroviruses from lower vertebrate hosts have been poorly characterized to date. Few sequences have been isolated, and those which have been reported are all highly divergent when compared to the retroviruses known to be harbored by mammals and birds. Here we show that retroviruses with significant homology to the human endogenous retrovirus type I (HERV-I) are present within the genomes of fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals and that they may well be widespread within many vertebrates. Phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences strongly supported the inclusion of viruses from each of these vertebrate classes into one monophyletic group. This analysis also demonstrated that the HERV-I-related viruses are more closely related to retroviruses belonging to the murine leukemia virus genus than to members of the other retroviral genera. The presence of HERV-I-related retroviruses in so many disparate vertebrate hosts suggests that other endogenous human retroviruses may also have a much wider distribution than is currently appreciated.

We have isolated and characterized a new human endogenous provirus, which is closely related to the human retrovirus S71, but unlike S71 has a full-length pol gene. Two degenerate oligonucleotide primers based on highly conserved motifs within the active sites of two retroviral proteins (the protease and reverse transcriptase) were designed and used for PCR. An amplified product of 847 bp in length, which showed significant homology to protease and reverse transcriptase of several retroviruses, was used for high stringency hybridization with a human genomic library. The MuLV-related endogenous retrovirus sequence, designated HC2, was isolated and completely sequenced. HC2 is a provirus with complete gag and pol genes and a 3' LTR; the 5' LTR and env gene are missing. The gag and pol genes appear complete, since they contain sequences homologous to the matrix protein, capsid protein, and nucleocapsid protein of gag and to the protease, reverse transcriptase, tether, RNase H, and integrase of pol. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that although HC2 and S71 are MuLV-related retroviruses, their characters are quite distinct, being placed outside of a clade containing most of the previously characterized MuLV-related retroviruses such as GaLV, FeLV, BaEV, and SSV/SSAV.

We isolated and characterized three endogenous retroviral fragments from the dart-poison frog Dendrobates ventrimaculatus. These are the first retroviral sequences to be identified in amphibians, and consequently retroviruses have now been found in each of the five major vertebrate classes. Comparison of the amphibian retroviral fragments, termed DevI, DevII, and DevIII, with mammalian and avian isolates revealed significant differences between their nucleotide sequences. This suggested that they were only distantly related to the seven currently recognized retroviral genera. Additional analysis by phylogeny reconstruction showed that the amphibian retroviral fragments were approximately equally related to the Moloney leukemia-related viruses, the spumaviruses, and walleye dermal sarcoma virus. Hybridization experiments revealed that viruses closely related to DevI, DevII, and DevIII do not appear to be widespread in other vertebrates and that DevI, DevII, and DevIII are all present at high copy numbers within their amphibian hosts, typically at over 250 copies per genome. The viruses described here, along with two others which have recently been found in a fish and a reptile, indicate that there may be some major differences in the retroviruses harbored by different vertebrate classes. This suggests that further characterization of retroviruses of fish, reptiles, and amphibians will help in understanding the evolution of the whole retroviral family and may well lead to the discovery of retroviruses with novel biological properties.

Vertebrate retroviruses have been classified into a number of different genera, and although many mammalian and avian examples have been characterized, less information exists about the retroviruses present within other vertebrate classes. We designed oligonucleotide primers against two highly conserved motifs within retroviral protease and reverse transcriptase genes and used them to isolate a retroviral fragment from the reptile tuatara (Sphenodon). Sequence analysis of this element, termed SpeV, demonstrated that it is substantially different from previously reported viruses, and that it cannot easily be placed into any known retroviral genus. Furthermore SpeV suggests that there may be some major differences between the retroviral populations found in reptiles and those present in mammals and birds.