Molecular characterization of lentiviruses from goats from Poland based on gag gene sequence analysis

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection in goats is worldwide but with higher prevalence in industrialized countries. While positive serology of CAEV in Polish goats was reported there was no genetic study of this virus. In this study, we described the molecular characterization of lentiviruses isolated from seropositive goats from Poland. We cloned and sequenced a fragment from the gag gene covering part of the coding sequences for the matrix (MA) p17 and for the capsid (CA) p25 proteins. Resulting nucleotide sequences were aligned with those from other ovine/caprine lentivirus isolates. We present data showing that the sequences of most goat lentivirus isolates are closer to the prototypic CAEV-Co isolate, nevertheless from one goat we isolated a virus that is closer to the sheep Maedi Visna virus (MVV) isolate. This might indicate a recent cross-species infection from sheep to goat.