Koala Retrovirus Flashcards
What is koala retrovirus an example of?
endogenous retrovirus (became endogenous in real time)
what is a zoonotic disease?
infections that spread between animals and people
what is an examples of a zoonotic disease? how was it transmitted to humans?
ebola
- bats are reservior hosts that transmitted ebola to monkeys, antelopes and humans during spill over event of eating an infected animal
what has caused decrease in koala population?
- global warming
- presence of virses: lymphoma and leukemia blood cancer
How is KoRV spread in its host?
koala retrovirus is germ line transmission
How did KoRV begin?
exogenous gammaretrovirus gibbon ape leukenmia virus (GALV) transmitted from ape to koala
What was the original KoRV?
KoRV-A (australia)
does KoRV genome colonization in koalas cause lymphomas, leukemias and Immunodeficiencies?
no direct establishment
What are the differences between San Diego Zoo and Los Angeles Zoo for Koala Infection status?
SDZ:
- limited outbreeding, low neoplastic disease (abnormal tissue growth)
- KoRV-A found
LAZ:
- australian koala outbreeding, lighter neoplasic disease rate
- all koalas had KoRV-A and some KoRV-B
from the LAZ and SDZ koalas, it was determined that…
presense of KoRV-B = animals exhibit higher degree of neoplasia = more disease like lymphomas and leukemia
what type of virus is KoRV-B?
exogenous! from outbreeding koalas in LAZ
difference of KoRV-B vs KoRV-A?
Differences in genome Differences in receptor usage
–% our human genome is composed of endogenous retrovirus and there is a link between HERV and –
systemic lupus erythematosus (autoimmmune disease)
