Zheng Jialu, Wei Yutong, Han Guan-Zhu
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Microbes and Functional Genomics, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
Virol Sin. 2022 Feb;37(1):11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.virs.2022.01.019. Epub 2022 Jan 19.
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.
逆转录病毒仅感染脊椎动物，可引发多种疾病。逆转录病毒的复制需要逆转录并整合到宿主基因组中。当感染生殖细胞时，逆转录病毒会垂直遗传，形成内源性逆转录病毒（ERVs）。ERVs记录了过去的病毒感染，为研究逆转录病毒的进化历史提供了分子化石。在本综述中，我们从病毒化石的角度总结了在理解逆转录病毒多样性和进化方面的最新进展，并讨论了ERVs对宿主生物学进化的影响。
