Inoculation of Newborn SWR/J Females with an Ecotropic Murine Leukemia Virus Can Produce Transgenic Mice

Endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia proviruses that were not present in the parental stock are acquired by the progeny of some SWR/J × RF/J hybrid females. We have made a stock of an ecotropic murine leukemia virus produced by such a hybrid female and inoculated newborn SWR/J females with it. We show that upon crossing of the inoculated females to SWR/J males, some of their progeny acquire ecotropic proviruses. Although most of these proviruses appear to be distributed in somatic tissues in a mosaic way, some are transmitted through the germ line. Thus an exogenous infection is able to mimic the phenomenon observed in SWR/J × RF/J hybrid mice. Available evidence suggests that this infection occurs during oogenesis in the recipient female. Our results document the conversion of an exogenous infectious ecotropic murine leukemia virus to an endogenous provirus without any manipulation of either eggs or embryos.