Human endogenous retrovirus K solo-LTR formation and insertional polymorphisms: implications for human and viral evolution.

ABSTRACT: Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are a potential source of genetic diversity in the human genome. Although many of these elements have been inactivated over time by the accumulation of deleterious mutations or internal recombination leading to solo-LTR formation, several members of the HERV-K family have been identified that remain nearly intact and probably represent recent integration events. To determine whether HERV-K elements have caused recent changes in the human genome, we have undertaken a study of the level of HERV-K polymorphism that exists in the human population. By using a high-resolution unblotting technique, we analyzed 13 human-specific HERV-K elements in 18 individuals. We found that solo LTRs have formed at five of these loci. These results enable the estimation of

SUBMITTER: Hughes JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC341815 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature