Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea.
Institute of Systems Biology, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea.
Mol Cells. 2017 Oct;40(10):796-804. doi: 10.14348/molcells.2017.0141. Epub 2017 Oct 17.
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) have been integrated into vertebrate genomes and have momentously affected host organisms. Horses () have been domesticated and selected for elite racing ability over centuries. ERVs played an important role in the evolutionary diversification of the horse genome. In the present study, we identified six equine ERV families (EqERVs-E1, I1, M2, P1, S1, and Y4), their full-length viral open reading frames (ORFs), and elucidated their phylogenetic relationships. The divergence time of EqERV families assuming an evolutionary rate of 0.2%/Myr indicated that EqERV-S3 (75.4 million years ago; mya) on chromosome 10 is an old EqERV family and EqERV-P5 (1.2 Mya) on chromosome 12 is a young member. During the evolutionary diversification of horses, the EqERV-I family diverged 1.7 Mya to 38.7 Mya. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) amplification of EqERV genes showed greater expression in the cerebellum of the Jeju horse than the Thoroughbred horse. These results could contribute further dynamic studies for horse genome in relation to EqERV gene function.
内源性逆转录病毒 (ERVs) 已整合到脊椎动物基因组中，并对宿主生物产生了重大影响。马经过数百年的选育，已经成为优秀的赛马品种。ERV 在马基因组的进化多样化中发挥了重要作用。在本研究中，我们鉴定了六个马内源性逆转录病毒家族（EqERV-E1、I1、M2、P1、S1 和 Y4），它们的全长病毒开放阅读框 (ORF)，并阐明了它们的系统发育关系。根据进化率为 0.2%/Myr 的假设，EqERV-S3（7540 万年前）在 10 号染色体上是一个古老的 EqERV 家族，而 EqERV-P5（120 万年前）在 12 号染色体上是一个年轻的成员。在马的进化多样化过程中，EqERV-I 家族在 170 万至 3870 万年前发生了分化。EqERV 基因的反转录定量实时 PCR (RT-qPCR) 扩增显示，济州马的小脑比纯血马有更高的表达。这些结果可以为与 EqERV 基因功能相关的马基因组的进一步动态研究做出贡献。
