This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental material Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Flockerzi, A. Articles by Mayer, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Flockerzi, A. Articles by Mayer, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, March 2005, p. 2941-2949, Vol. 79, No. 5
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.5.2941-2949.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Human Endogenous Retrovirus HERV-K14 Families: Status, Variants, Evolution, and Mobilization of Other Cellular Sequences

Aline Flockerzi,¹ Stefan Burkhardt,² Werner Schempp,³ Eckart Meese,¹ and Jens Mayer^1*

Department of Human Genetics, University of Saarland, Homburg,¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik, Saarbrücken,² Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany³

Received 8 June 2004/ Accepted 8 October 2004

The human genome harbors many distinct families of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) that stem from exogenous retroviruses that infected the germ line millions of years ago. Many HERV families remain to be investigated. We report in the present study the detailed characterization of the HERV-K14I and HERV-K14CI families as they are represented in the human genome. Most of the 68 HERV-K14I and 23 HERV-K14CI proviruses are severely mutated, frequently displaying uniform deletions of retroviral genes and long terminal repeats (LTRs). Both HERV families entered the germ line 39 million years ago, as evidenced by homologous sequences in hominoids and Old World primates and calculation of evolutionary ages based on a molecular clock. Proviruses of both families were formed during a brief period. A majority of HERV-K14CI proviruses on the Y chromosome mimic a higher evolutionary age, showing that LTR-LTR divergence data can indicate false ages. Fully translatable consensus sequences encoding major retroviral proteins were generated. Most HERV-K14I loci lack an env gene and are structurally reminiscent of LTR retrotransposons. A minority of HERV-K14I variants display an env gene. HERV-K14I proviruses are associated with three distinct LTR families, while HERV-K14CI is associated with a single LTR family. Hybrid proviruses consisting of HERV-K14I and HERV-W sequences that appear to have produced provirus progeny in the genome were detected. Several HERV-K14I proviruses harbor TRPC6 mRNA portions, exemplifying mobilization of cellular transcripts by HERVs. Our analysis contributes essential information on two more HERV families and on the biology of HERV sequences in general.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Human Genetics, Building 60, University of Saarland, 66421 Homburg, Germany. Phone: 49 6841 1626627. Fax: 49 6841 1626186. E-mail: jens.mayer{at}uniklinik-saarland.de.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jvi.asm.org/.

---

Journal of Virology, March 2005, p. 2941-2949, Vol. 79, No. 5
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.5.2941-2949.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Doxiadis, G. G. M., de Groot, N., Bontrop, R. E. (2008). Impact of Endogenous Intronic Retroviruses on Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Diversity and Stability. J. Virol. 82: 6667-6677 [Abstract] [Full Text]