Genetic mapping of ecotropic murine leukemia virus-inducing loci in six inbred strains

Mendelian segregation analysis was used to map chromosomal genes for the induction of endogenous N- and B-tropic ecotropic retroviruses (V loci) in high and low leukemic mouse strains. Patterns of virus expression were determined for mice of various inbred strains, congenic lines carrying single V loci, and the linkage testing stocks used in mapping studies. Segregation analysis resulted in the genetic mapping of V loci from six inbred strains to five mouse chromosomes. The V locus of A/J was mapped to chromosome 5 and shown to be allelic with that of BALB/cJ and C3H/HeJ (Cv); this suggests that Cv-represents a stable ancestral V locus present in Bagg albino stocks before the separation of inbred lines. The single, poorly inducible V locus of C57BL/10J and one of the four high virus loci of C58/Lw were mapped to the same region of chromosome 8 and may represent an allelic pair with different patterns of expression. An N-tropic V locus of the SEA/GnJ mouse was mapped to chromosome 9, and one of the three V loci of C3H/FgLw was mapped to chromosome 7. The endogenous B-tropic virus of B10.BR/SgLi was mapped to chromosome 11. These studies provide further evidence that endogenous ecotropic V loci are present at different chromosomal sites in unrelated mouse strains and emphasize the role of germ line reinfections in the generation of this diversity.