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Evidence For The Horizontal Acquisition Of Murine Akr Virogenes By Recent Horizontal Infection Of The Germ Line, Stephen J. O'Brien, Janet L. Moore, Malcolm A. Martin, James E. Womack

Biology Faculty Articles

Several recent reports have established the biological and molecular genetic similarity between the endogenous AKV virus of strain AKR, and an N-ecotropic endogenous virus found in the genome of feral Japanese mice, Mus musculus molossinus. The similarities are so striking as to suggest a common origin of these viruses, which are present in some, but not all, inbred mouse strains. The virogenes of AKR mice may have been acquired by either: (a) common descent of AKR (and other AKV⁺ strains) from a common ancestor of AKR and molossinus animals, or (b) horizontal germ line infection of the AKR …