Phylogenetic and geographical analysis of a retrovirus during the early stages of endogenous adaptation and exogenous spread in a new host.

ABSTRACT: Most retroviral endogenization and host adaptation happened in the distant past, with the opportunity to study these processes as they occurred lost to time. An exception exists with the discovery that koala retrovirus (KoRV) has recently begun its endogenization into the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) genome. What makes this opportunity remarkable is the fact that Northern Australian koalas appear to be undergoing endogenization with one KoRV subtype (KoRV-A), while all subtypes (KoRV-A-I) coexist exogenously, and Southern Australian koalas appear to carry all KoRV subtypes as an exogenous virus. To understand the distribution and relationship of all KoRV variants in koalas, the proviral KoRV envelope gene receptor binding domain was assessed across the koala's natural range. Examination

SUBMITTER: Quigley BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8246579 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature