Molecular characteristics of the complete genome of a J-subgroup avian leukosis virus strain isolated from Eurasian teal in China

The J-subgroup avian leukosis virus (ALV-J) strain WB11098J was isolated from a wild Eurasian teal, and its proviral genomic sequences were determined. The complete proviral sequence of WB11098J was 7868 nt long. WB11098J was 95.3.9 % identical to the prototype strain HPRS-103, 94.2 % identical to the American strain ADOL-7501, 94.5–94.7 % identical to Chinese broiler isolates, 94.8–97.5 % identical to layer chicken isolates, and 94.4–95.0 % identical to Chinese local chicken isolates at the nucleotide level. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the WB11098J isolate shared the greatest homology with the layer strain SD09DP03 and was included in the same cluster. Interestingly, two 19-bp insertions in the U3 regions of the 5′LTR and 5′UTR that were most likely derived from other retroviruses were found in the WB11098J isolate. These insertions separately introduced one E2BP-binding site in the U3 region of the 5′LTR and a RNA polymerase II transcription factor IIB and core promoter motif of ten elements in the 5′UTR. A 5-bp deletion was identified in the U3 region of the 5′LTR. No nucleotides were deleted in the rTM or DR-1 regions in the 3′UTR. A 1-bp deletion was detected in the E element and introduced a specific and distinct binding site for c-Ets-1. Our study is the first to report the molecular characteristics of the complete genome of an ALV-J that was isolated from a wild bird and will provide necessary information for further understanding of the evolution of ALV-J.