100-My history of bornavirus infections hidden in vertebrate genomes

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 118; no. 20; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Kawasaki, Junna, Kojima, Shohei, Mukai, Yahiro, Tomonaga, Keizo, Horie, Masayuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 18.05.2021
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Coevolution; Coexistence; Genomes; Geographical distribution; Infections; Phylogeny; Vertebrates; Viruses; vertebrate evolution; endogenous bornavirus-like element; virus–host coevolutionary history; ancient viral infection; paleovirology

Although viruses have threatened our ancestors for millions of years, prehistoric epidemics of viruses are largely unknown. Endogenous bornavirus-like elements (EBLs) are ancient bornavirus sequences derived from the viral messenger RNAs that were reverse transcribed and inserted into animal genomes...