Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

In Vivo Functional Study of Disease-associated Rare Human Variants Using Drosophila
Published on: August 20, 2019
Domesticated retroviral GAG gene in Drosophila: new functions for an old gene
L N Nefedova1, I V Kuzmin1, P A Makhnovskii1
1Department of Genetics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russia.
Abstract:
The domestication of foreign genes is a powerful mechanism for new gene formation and genome evolution. It is known that domesticated retroviral gag genes in mammals not only take part in protecting against viral infection but also control cell division, apoptosis, function of the placenta, and other biological processes. In this study, we focused on the domesticated retroviral gag gene homolog (Grp) in the Drosophila melanogaster genome. According to the results of a bioinformatic analysis, the Grp gene product is primarily under purifying selection in Drosophilidae family. The Grp protein has been shown to be transmembrane. The Grp gene is expressed at the adult stage of D. melanogaster in gender-specific and tissue-specific manner. Also the Grp gene expression is increased in response to the gypsy retrovirus. A function of the protein as a component of the endosomic membrane is considered.
Related Concept Videos
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
Retroviruses
LTR Retrotransposons
The internal coding region of LTR retrotransposons and their mechanism of transposition closely resembles a...
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Non-LTR Retrotransposons

