Biology and evolution of the endogenous koala retrovirus.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 9705402 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1420-9071 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 1420682X NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cell Mol Life Sci Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Basel : Springer
Original Publication: Basel ; Boston : Birkhauser, c1997-

Endogenous Retroviruses/*physiology ; Phascolarctidae/*virology; Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Asia ; Australia ; Biological Evolution ; Consensus Sequence ; Disease Transmission, Infectious/veterinary ; Endogenous Retroviruses/classification ; Endogenous Retroviruses/genetics ; Gammaretrovirus/classification ; Gammaretrovirus/genetics ; Gammaretrovirus/physiology ; Hematologic Neoplasms/veterinary ; Hematologic Neoplasms/virology ; Host-Pathogen Interactions ; Hylobates/virology ; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/veterinary ; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes/virology ; Leukemia Virus, Gibbon Ape/classification ; Leukemia Virus, Gibbon Ape/genetics ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phascolarctidae/genetics ; Proviruses/genetics ; Proviruses/isolation & purification ; Retroviridae Infections/transmission ; Retroviridae Infections/veterinary ; Retroviridae Infections/virology ; Rodent Diseases/virology ; Rodentia/virology ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Species Specificity ; Virus Replication

Although endogenous retroviruses are ubiquitous features of all mammalian genomes, the process of initial germ line invasion and subsequent inactivation from a pathogenic element has not yet been observed in a wild species. Koala retrovirus (KoRV) provides a unique opportunity to study this process of endogenisation in action as it still appears to be spreading through the koala population. Ongoing expression of the endogenous sequence and consequent high levels of viraemia have been linked to neoplasia and immunosuppression in koalas. This apparently recent invader of the koala genome shares a remarkably close sequence relationship with the pathogenic exogenous Gibbon ape leukaemia virus (GALV), and comparative analyses of KoRV and GALVare helping to shed light on how retroviruses in general adapt to a relatively benign or at least less pathogenic existence within a new host genome. (Part of a multi-author review).

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Date Created: 20080927 Date Completed: 20090119 Latest Revision: 20240530

20240530

PMC11131744

10.1007/s00018-008-8499-y

18818870