| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>We determined the relative ratios of Gag and Pol molecules in highly purified virions of spumaretroviruses or foamy viruses (FVs) using monoclonal antibodies and bacterially expressed reference proteins. We found that the cleaved p68<sup>Gag </sup>moiety dominates in infectious FVs. Furthermore, approximate mean ratios in FV are 16:1 (pr71<sup>Gag </sup>plus p68<sup>Gag</sup>:p85<sup>RT</sup>),12:1 (p68<sup>Gag</sup>:p85<sup>RT</sup>), and 10:1 (pr71<sup>Gag </sup>plus p68<sup>Gag</sup>:p40<sup>IN</sup>). Thus, the results indicate that FVs have found a way to incorporate approximately as much Pol protein into their capsids as orthoretroviruses, despite a completely different Pol expression strategy.</p>
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