Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on September 12, 2005.

Genetics, Vol. 171, 1183-1194, November 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.105.043976

Human Endogenous Retroviral Elements as Indicators of Ectopic Recombination Events in the Primate Genome

Department of Molecular Microbiology and Program in Genetics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111

2 Corresponding author: Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111.
E-mail: john.coffin{at}tufts.edu

HERV elements make up a significant fraction of the human genome and, as interspersed repetitive elements, have the capacity to provide substrates for ectopic recombination and gene conversion events. To understand the extent to which these events occur and gain further insight into the complex evolutionary history of these elements in our genome, we undertook a phylogenetic study of the long terminal repeat sequences of 15 HERV-K(HML-2) elements in various primate species. This family of human endogenous retroviruses first entered the primate genome between 35 and 45 million years ago. Throughout primate evolution, these elements have undergone bursts of amplification. From this analysis, which is the largest-scale study of HERV sequence dynamics during primate evolution to date, we were able to detect intraelement gene conversion and recombination at five HERV-K loci. We also found evidence for replacement of an ancient element by another HERV-K provirus, apparently reflecting an occurrence of retroviral integration by homologous recombination. The high frequency of these events casts doubt on the accuracy of integration time estimates based only on divergence between retroelement LTRs.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Virol.Home page
W. van der Loo, J. Abrantes, and P. J. Esteves
Sharing of Endogenous Lentiviral Gene Fragments among Leporid Lineages Separated for More than 12 Million Years
J. Virol., March 1, 2009; 83(5): 2386 - 2388.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R. J. Gifford, A. Katzourakis, M. Tristem, O. G. Pybus, M. Winters, and R. W. Shafer
From the Cover: A transitional endogenous lentivirus from the genome of a basal primate and implications for lentivirus evolution
PNAS, December 23, 2008; 105(51): 20362 - 20367.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Virol.Home page
N. Polavarapu, N. J. Bowen, and J. F. McDonald
Newly Identified Families of Human Endogenous Retroviruses
J. Virol., May 1, 2006; 80(9): 4640 - 4642.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Virol.Home page
P. Jern, G. O. Sperber, and J. Blomberg
Divergent Patterns of Recent Retroviral Integrations in the Human and Chimpanzee Genomes: Probable Transmissions between Other Primates and Chimpanzees
J. Virol., February 1, 2006; 80(3): 1367 - 1375.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]