Group Group VI (ssRNA-RT) Family Retroviridae Scientific name Gammaretrovirus Rank Genus | Order Unassigned Higher classification Orthoretrovirinae | |
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Lower classifications Murine leukemia virus, Xenotropic murine leukemia, Feline leukemia virus, Abelson murine leukemia | ||
What does gammaretrovirus mean
A gammaretrovirus is a genus of the retroviridae family. Example species are the murine leukemia virus and the feline leukemia virus. They cause various sarcomas, leukemias and immune deficiencies in mammals, reptiles and birds.
Many endogenous retroviruses, closely related to exogenous gammaretroviruses, are present in the DNA of mammals (including humans), birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Many of the Gammaretroviruses share a conserved RNA structural element called a core encapsidation signal.
One gammaretrovirus, Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), is a recombinant virus created in a laboratory accident in the mid-1990s. It is known to infect human tissue, but no known disease is associated with the infection.
The avian reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs) are not strictly avian viruses - it now appears that REVs are mammalian viruses that were accidentally introduced into birds in the 1930s during research on malaria.
