Lentivirus

Lentivirus is a genus of retroviruses that can infect both dividing and non-dividing cells by transporting the viral pre-integration complex into the nucleus, allowing integration of the viral genome without requiring mitosis. The name lentivirus ("slow virus") derives from the prolonged interval between infection and disease observed in the viruses from which the genus was originally defined.The genus includes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Lentiviruses are distributed worldwide, and are known to be hosted in apes, cows, goats, horses, cats, and sheep as well as several other mammals. Lentiviruses can integrate a significant amount of viral complementary DNA into the DNA of the host cell and can efficiently infect nondividing cells, so they are one of the most efficient methods of gene delivery. They can become endogenous, integrating their genome into the host germline genome, so that the virus is henceforth inherited by the host's descendants.