title: Not so bad after all: retroviruses and long terminal repeat retrotransposons as a source of new genes in vertebrates.
abstract: Viruses and transposable elements, once considered as purely junk and selfish sequences, have repeatedly been used as a source of novel protein-coding genes during the evolution of most eukaryotic lineages, a phenomenon called 'molecular domestication'. This is exemplified perfectly in mammals and other vertebrates, where many genes derived from long terminal repeat (LTR) retroelements (retroviruses and LTR retrotransposons) have been identified through comparative genomics and functional analyses. In particular, genes derived from gag structural protein and envelope (env) genes, as well as from the integrase-coding and protease-coding sequences, have been identified in humans and other vertebrates. Retroelement-derived genes are involved in many important biological processes including placenta formation, cognitive functions in the brain and immunity against retroelements, as well as in cell proliferation, apoptosis and cancer. These observations support an important role of retroelement-derived genes in the evolution and diversification of the vertebrate lineage.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naville
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Haftek-Terreau
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France; Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chalopin
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brunet
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galiana
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS UMR5242, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, France. Electronic address: Jean-Nicolas.Volff@ens-lyon.fr.
authors.forename: J-N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Volff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D018626:Retroelements; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D014714:Vertebrates; D016662:Virus Integration
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements
keywords: Exaptation; molecular domestication; neogene; retroelement; retrotransposon; retrovirus