Phylogenomics Unveils the Complex Evolution of Retroviruses in Birds.

ABSTRACT: The rise of birds represents one of the major evolutionary transitions in the history of life. Yet, much remains obscure about the origins and diversification of viruses in birds. Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), relics of past retroviral infections, provide molecular fossils for interrogating the evolution and ecology of retroviruses. Here, we perform phylogenomic mining of ERVs within the genomes of 758 bird species and identify more than 470,000 ERVs, revealing a highly diverse and complex retrovirus repertoire in birds. These ERVs greatly expand the diversity of retroviruses in birds, indicating that exogenous retroviruses characterized in birds to date are highly underestimated. The evolution of retroviruses in birds is shaped by both coevolution and cross-species transmission. Tens of

SUBMITTER: He Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12287698 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature