Biodiv Sci ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (2): 24419.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2024419  cstr: 32101.14.biods.2024419

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Research progress on the endogenous viruses of plants

Wang Zongneng1(), Qi Xingyang1(), Liu Jian1(), Su Daifa1(), Yang Junyu1,2,*()(), Cui Xiaolong1,*()()   

  1. 1 School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
    2 Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Virology & Immunology, Kunming 650500, China
  • Received:2024-09-19 Accepted:2024-11-12 Online:2025-02-20 Published:2024-12-11
  • Contact: *E-mail: junyu.yang@ynu.edu.cn; xlcui@ynu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(31960220);National Natural Science Foundation of China(31660089);Science and Technology Planning Project in Key Areas of Yunnan Province(202303AP140004);Project of the Department of Education of Yunnan Province(2025J0015)

Abstract:

Background & Aim: Endogenous viral elements (EVEs) refer to viral DNA sequences intergrated into the genomes of cellular organisms. The integration of retroviral elements has been reported in animal genomes, while plant viruses were once thought to be incapable of integrate into plant genomes because they do not encode integrases. However, with the advancement and application of bioinformatics and comparative genomics, the integration of viral nucleic acids in plant genomes has been continuously reported, and showing close associations with the healthy growth, development, adaptation and evolution of plants. This review aims to provide insights for producing genetically stable and virus-free plant materials (such as virus-free seedlings), tracing the origin of viruses, and exploring the interaction, coadaptation and coevolution of host plants and their endogenous viruses.

Progresses: This review summarizes the types and diversity of integrated viruses in plant genomes, the mechanisms of viral integration and activation, the harmful and beneficial effects of viral integration on plants, and outlines the methods for exploring EVEs within plant genomes.

Prospects: We emphasize that endogenous virus mining can be carried out throughout the plant domain from lower to higher plants, to reveal the characteristics of viral infection in various plants in the past, and explore the potential role, function and contribution of viruses in the evolution of plants from aquatic to terrestrial, from low to high. In addition, we advocate the use of multiple techniques to investigate the mechanisms of viral infection, integration, activation, and host genetic control in order to clarify the mechanisms of endogenous virus integration, control, and activation, while providing more accurate insights into endogenous virus-host interactions. Our article can help the study of endogenous viruses in plants.

Key words: plant, virus, endogenous viral elements (EVEs), endogenous pararetroviruses (EPRVs), Caulimoviridae

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