endogenous retrovirus

TWiV 571: Piwi koalas

The League of Extraordinary Virologists celebrate the eradication of wild poliovirus type 3, and consider the effectiveness of an influenza vaccine produced in insect cells, and how small RNAs are protecting the Koala germline from retroviral invasion. Click arrow to play Download TWiV 571 (64 MB .mp3, 105 min) Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes …

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Retroviruses and the placenta, a remarkable relationship

Retroviruses have been infecting vertebrates for over 450 million years. Because retroviral DNA integrates into host cell DNA, the vertebrate genome is littered with remnants of these infections. Some of this retroviral DNA has been co-opted by the cell for a variety of beneficial purposes, such as development of the placenta and the control of …

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TWiV 472: The riddle of the skinks

The TWiV team reveal the origin of the poxvirus membrane, and how a retrovirus drove the development of the placenta of a lizard. <span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>&lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” …

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Retroviruses turned egg-layers into live-bearers

The protein syncytin, which is essential for formation of the placenta, originally came to the genome of our ancestors, and those of other mammals, via a retrovirus infection. Placental structures have also developed in non-mammalian vertebrates. The Mabuya lizard (pictured: image credit), which emerged 25 million years ago, has a placenta very much like those …

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