AUTHOR=Zhang Yufei , Wang Gaofeng , Zhu Yanzhu , Cao Xiaodong , Liu Fang , Li Huiping , Liu Shuying 

TITLE=Exploring the role of endogenous retroviruses in seasonal reproductive cycles: a case study of the ERV-V envelope gene in mink

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2024.1404431

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2024.1404431

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), which originated from exogenous retroviral infections of germline cells millions of years ago and were inherited by subsequent generations as per Mendelian inheritance patterns, predominantly comprise non-protein-coding sequences due to the accumulation of mutations, insertions, deletions, and truncations. Nevertheless, recent studies have revealed that ERVs play a crucial role in diverse biological processes by encoding various proteins.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, we successfully identified an ERV envelope <italic>(env</italic>) gene in a mink species. A phylogenetic tree of mink ERV-V <italic>env</italic> and reference sequences was constructed using Bayesian methods and maximum-likelihood inference.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Phylogenetic analyses indicated a significant degree of sequence conservation and positive selection within the <italic>env</italic>-surface open reading frame. Additionally, qRT-PCR revealed diverse patterns of mink ERV-V <italic>env</italic> expression in various tissues. The expression of mink ERV-V <italic>env</italic> gene in testicular tissue strongly correlated with the seasonal reproductive cycles of minks.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>Our study suggests that the ERV-V <italic>env</italic> gene in mink may have been repurposed for host functions.</p></sec>