Widespread horizontal gene transfer from double-stranded RNA viruses to eukaryotic nuclear genomes.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer commonly occurs from cells to viruses but rarely occurs from viruses to their host cells, with the exception of retroviruses and some DNA viruses. However, extensive sequence similarity searches in public genome databases for various organisms showed that the capsid protein and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase genes from totiviruses and partitiviruses have widespread homologs in the nuclear genomes of eukaryotic organisms, including plants, arthropods, fungi, nematodes, and protozoa. PCR amplification and sequencing as well as comparative evidence of junction coverage between virus and host sequences support the conclusion that these viral homologs are real and occur in eukaryotic genomes. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis suggest that these genes were like

SUBMITTER: Liu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2977895 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature