title: Complete nucleotide sequence of an endogenous retrovirus from the amphibian, Xenopus laevis.
abstract: We report the first full-length sequence of an endogenous amphibian retrovirus derived from the African clawed toad Xenopus laevis. The virus, termed Xen1, has one of the largest endogenous retroviral genomes described to date of over 10 kb in length and it also has a relatively complex genomic organisation consisting of LTR-orf1, orf2, gag, pol, env-LTR. Orfs 1 and 2 are novel, duplicated genes of unknown function. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Xen1 is most closely related to the epsilon -retroviruses WDSV and WEHV types 1 and 2, which are large, complex exogenous retroviruses present within Walleye fish.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, SL5 7PY, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.
authors.forename: Roziah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kambol
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kabat
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tristem
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins