%0 Journal Article %A Kar, Sujata %A Cummings, Phoebe %A Alexander, Louis %T Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Vif supports efficient primate lentivirus replication in rhesus monkey cells %D 2003 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 84 %N 12 %P 3227-3231 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.19449-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Vif share limited homology and display species-specific activity, leading to speculation that Vif sequences could determine the block in HIV-1 replication in rhesus monkeys. To address this issue, we engineered a novel SIV recombinant in which HIV-1 vif replaced SIV vif in a SIVmac239 background. Insertion of HIV-1 vif into the SIV vif locus did not produce a replication-competent virus. Therefore, we inserted HIV-1 vif sequences into the SIV nef locus, which produced a recombinant that, in the absence of SIV vif sequences, replicated similarly to wild-type SIVmac239 in rhesus monkey PBMC. From these studies we conclude that the HIV-1 replication block in rhesus monkeys is almost certainly not Vif determined. These studies also suggest that SHIV/NVif or derivative sequences could be utilized for structure/function studies of HIV-1 Vif in experimentally infected rhesus monkeys. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.19449-0