title: An expressed, endogenous Nodavirus-like element captured by a retrotransposon in the genome of the plant parasitic nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus.
abstract: Recently, nematode viruses infecting Caenorhabditis elegans have been reported from the family Nodaviridae, the first nematode viruses described. Here, we report the observation of a novel endogenous viral element (EVE) in the genome of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, a plant parasitic nematode unrelated to other nematodes from which viruses have been characterised. This element derives from a different clade of nodaviruses to the previously reported nematode viruses. This represents the first endogenous nodavirus sequence, the first nematode endogenous viral element, and significantly extends our knowledge of the potential diversity of the Nodaviridae. A search for endogenous elements related to the Nodaviridae did not reveal any elements in other available nematode genomes. Further surveillance for endogenous viral elements is warranted as our knowledge of nematode genome diversity, and in particular of free-living nematodes, expands.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cotton
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steinbiss
authors.affiliation: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.|Division of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.|Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Isheng J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.|Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan.|Division of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.
authors.forename: Taisei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D030381:Nodaviridae; D018626:Retroelements; D017187:Tylenchida / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements