The diversity and evolution of retroviruses: Perspectives from viral "fossils"

Jialu Zheng; Yutong Wei; Guan-Zhu Han

doi:10.1016/j.virs.2022.01.019

The diversity and evolution of retroviruses: Perspectives from viral "fossils"

Virol Sin. 2022 Feb;37(1):11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.virs.2022.01.019. Epub 2022 Jan 19.

Authors

Jialu Zheng¹, Yutong Wei¹, Guan-Zhu Han²

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China. Electronic address: guanzhu@njnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Retroviruses exclusively infect vertebrates, causing a variety of diseases. The replication of retroviruses requires reverse transcription and integration into host genomes. When infecting germline cells, retroviruses become inherited vertically, forming endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). ERVs document past viral infections, providing molecular fossils for studying the evolutionary history of retroviruses. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in understanding the diversity and evolution of retroviruses from the perspectives of viral fossils, and discuss the effects of ERVs on the evolution of host biology.

Keywords: Diversity; Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs); Origin and evolution; Retroviruses.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Endogenous Retroviruses* / genetics
Evolution, Molecular
Fossils*
Phylogeny