Expression and characterization of the integrase of bovine immunodeficiency virus

In the pol gene of bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) there is a sequence, located between the reverse-transcriptase and integrase (IN)-encoding sequences, that is not found in HIV-1 pol gene and encodes a 74-residue polypeptide with homology to dUTPases. We have expressed two BIV IN versions that differ in their amino termini. The longer version, containing the 74-residue sequence, did not show any detectable 3′-end processing and strand transfer IN activities and performed only the IN-associated disintegration. Consequently, the shorter version, lacking the dUTPase-related residues, performed all three activities and is most likely similar to the viral enzyme. A comparison between BIV IN and the well-studied HIV-1 IN, with substrates that mimic the U5 LTR sequences of BIV, HIV-1 and another bovine lentivirus, Jembrana disease virus, revealed that the extra 3′-end sequence beyond the conserved “CA” is probably less important for IN activities than the sequence upstream to the “CA".