MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF STLV-I IN WILD AND CAPTIVE SOOTY MANGABEYS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. A study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and diversity of simian T cell lymphotropic virus (STLV) within the long established Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) colony of sooty mangabeys (SM; Cercocebus atys). Serological analysis determined that 22 of 39 animals (56%) were positive for STLV-1. A second group of thirteen SM bush-meat samples from Sierra Leone, Africa was also included and tested only by PCR. Twenty-two of 39 captive animals (56%) and 3 of 13 bush-meat samples (23%) were positive for STLV-1 by PCR. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of viral strains obtained demonstrated that STLV-Ism strains from the TNPRC colony and Sierra Leone formed a single cluster together with the previously reported STLV-1sm strain from Yerkes National Primate Research Center (YNPRC).These data confirm an African origin for TNPRC STLV-1sm and suggest a Sierra Leone origin for the SM colonies in the United States. The TNPRC STLV-1sm strains further divided into two subclusters suggesting STLV-1sm infection of two original founder SMs at the time of their importation into the United States. STLV-1sm diversity in the TNPRC colony matches the already reported colony's high diversity of SIVsm. The lack of correlation between SIVsm lineage and STLV-1sm subcluster distribution of TNPRC strains suggest that intracolony transmission of both viruses were independent events.