Phylogenetic Analysis of HERV-K LTR Family in Human Chromosome Xq26 and New World Monkeys

  • Kim, Heui-Soo (Corresponding author, Division of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sceinces, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Park, Joo-Young (Division of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sceinces, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Lee, Won-Ho (Division of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sceinces, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Jang, Kyung-Lib (Division of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sceinces, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Park, Won-Hyuck (Department of Biological Education, College of Education, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Moon, Doo-Ho (Department of Biological Education, College of Education, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735) ;
  • Osamu Takenaka (Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Primate Research Institue, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan) ;
  • Hyun, Byung-Hwa (Genetic Resources Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Taejeon 305-333)
  • 발행 : 2000.04.01

초록

Solitary long terminal repeats(LTRs) of human endogenous retrovirus K family(HERV-K) have been found to be coexpressed with sequences of closely located genes. It has been suggested that HERV-K LTR-like elements entered the primate genome approximately 33-40 million years ago. WE investigated the presence of HERV-K LTR elements in New World monkeys using PCR amplification. Six LTR elements of HERV-K family were identified from New World monkeys, represented by the squirrel and night monkeys. They showed a high degree of sequence homology(96-99%) with the human-specific HERV-K LTR elements. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that an LTR element (SM-1) from the squirrel monkey and another LTR element (NM-1) from the night monkey are very closely related to the human-specific HERV-K LTR elements with low degree of divergence. This finding suggests that some of LTR elements of HERV-K family have recently been proliferated in New World monkeys. A sequence in chromosome Xq26(AL034407) \ulcorner contains an HERV-K LTR element was shown to be present in the human genome, but is absent in the bonobo, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon. It has more than 99% homology to other human-specific HERV-K LTR elements. This sequence thus represents and isolated insertion of an evolving class of elements that may have made a particular contribution to human genomic plasticity.

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