The Chimp Genome Reveals a Retroviral Invasion in Primate Evolution

Abstract

The article presents information on the genomic sequences in chimpanzees. Researcher Evan Eichler and colleagues scanned finished chimpanzee genome sequence for endogenous retroviral elements and found one sequence called PTERV1 that does not occur in humans. Searching the genomes of a subset of apes and monkeys revealed that the retrovirus had integrated into the germline of African great apes and Old World monkeys--but did not infect humans and Asian apes. This undermines the notion that an ancient infection invaded an ancestral primate lineage, since great apes share a common ancestor with Old World monkeys. The article presents information on the genomic sequences in chimpanzees. Researcher Evan Eichler and colleagues scanned finished chimpanzee genome sequence for endogenous retroviral elements and found one sequence called PTERV1 that does not occur in humans. Searching the genomes of a subset of apes and monkeys revealed that the retrovirus had integrated into the germline of African great apes and Old World monkeys--but did not infect humans and Asian apes. This undermines the notion that an ancient infection invaded an ancestral primate lineage, since great apes share a common ancestor with Old World monkeys.