ABSTRACT
To provide a new tool for genetic manipulation in insects, we developed a novel class of retroviral vectors based on the oloney murine leukemia virus ( LV) that contain the envelope glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-G). These replication-incompetent, pantropic retroviral vectors have a broadened host cell range that includes insect cells and can be concentrated to the high titers (>1OY infectious unitslml) needed for microinjection studies. Such vectors have been demonstrated to attach, uncoat, reverse-transcribe, and integrate as a DNA provirus into the chromosomes of dipteran and iepidopteran cells.
