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Updated: Jun 17, 2025

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Evolution and subfamilies of HERVL human endogenous retrovirus
Huan Zhang1, Martin C Frith1,2,3
1Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan.
Background:
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), which blur the boundary between virus and transposable element, are genetic material derived from retroviruses and have important implications for evolution. This study examines the diversity and evolution of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) of the HERVL family, which has long terminal repeats (LTRs) named MLT2.
Results:
By probability-based sequence comparison, we uncover systematic annotation errors that conceal the true complexity and diversity of transposable elements (TEs) in the human genome. Our analysis identifies new subfamilies within the MLT2 group, proposes a refined classification scheme, and constructs new consensus sequences. We present an evolutionary analysis including phylogenetic trees that elucidate the relationships between these subfamilies and their contributions to human evolution. The results underscore the significance of accurate TE annotation in understanding genome evolution, highlighting the potential for misclassified TEs to impact interpretations of genomic studies.
Availability And Implementation:
Not applicable.
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