Endogenous viral element
virus-derived DNA sequences in an organism's germline genome
An endogenous viral element (EVE) is a DNA sequence derived from a virus, and present within the germline of a non-viral organism. EVEs may be entire viral genomes (proviruses), or fragments of viral genomes. They arise when a viral DNA sequence becomes integrated into the genome of a germ cell that goes on to produce a viable organism. The newly endogenized EVE can be inherited from one generation to the next as an allele in the host species, and may even reach fixation.
Endogenous retroviruses and other EVEs that occur as proviruses can potentially remain capable of producing infectious viruses in their endogenous state. Replication of such 'active' endogenous viruses can lead to the proliferation of viral insertions in the germline. For most non-retroviral viruses, germline integration appears to be a rare, anomalous event, and the resulting EVEs are often only fragments of the parent virus genome. Such fragments are usually not capable of producing infectious viruses, but may express protein or RNA or even cell surface receptors.
Diversity and distribution
EVEs have been identified in animals, plants and fungi. In vertebrates EVEs derived from retroviruses (endogenous retroviruses) are relatively common.
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This entry incorporates text from “Endogenous viral element” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.