Horizontal gene transfer events reshape the global landscape of arm race between viruses and homo sapiens

Abstract

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) drives the evolution of recipient organism particularly if it provides a novel function which enhances the fitness or its adaption to the environment. Virus-host co-evolution is attractive for studying co-evolutionary processes, since viruses strictly replicate inside of the host cells and thus their evolution is inexorably tangled with host biology. HGT, as a mechanism of co-evolution between human and viruses, has been widely documented, however, the roles HGT play during the interaction between human and viruses are still in their infancy. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis on the genes horizontally transferred between viruses and their corresponding human hosts. Our study suggests that the HGT genes in human are predominantly enriched in immune related GO terms while viral HGT genes are tend to be encoded by viruses which promote the invasion of immune system of hosts. Based on our results, it gives us a hint about the evolution trajectory of HGT events. Overall, our study suggests that the HGT between human and viruses are highly relevant to immune interaction and probably reshaped the arm race between hosts and viruses.

Viral nanoparticles for drug delivery, imaging, immunotherapy, and theranostic applications

“…Also, attention should be paid toward formulation quality control and assurancewhen VLPs are produced by (heterologous) expression they are devoid of their genome; however, they can oftentimes package host RNA causing unwanted side effects [235]. Mammalian viruses may also cause horizontal genetic transfer events evolving both humans and viruses in unimaginable ways [236]. These possibilities must be carefully examined and studied as well as regulated.…”

Genome Sequencing of Mesonia algae K4-1 Reveals Its Adaptation to the Arctic Ocean

“…The genome analysis results showed that Mesonia algae K4-1 may be more robust to variable conditions and equipped with an ecological advantage. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a general way for bacteria to respond to different selective pressures and obtain an important competitive advantage (Chen et al, 2016). In HGT events, the acquisition or loss of MGE plays a key role in carrying functional genes that enhance fitness in the environment (Hall et al, 2017; Wang L. et al, 2017; Husnik and McCutcheon, 2018).…”

Evaluating the Probability of CRISPR-based Gene Drive Contaminating Another Species

“…For example, the BovB element moved at least 11 times between snakes, lizards, ruminants and marsupials (Ivancevic et al 2017) and the Mariner element moved between nematodes, arthropods, fungi, molluscs, vertebrates and plants [ (Palazzo et al 2019) and references therein]. Numerous stable introductions of virus DNA into the germline of various eukaryote species have also been reported (Katzourakis and Gifford 2010;Holmes 2011;Feschotte and Gilbert 2012;Chen et al 2016) . In vertebrates, endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) can insert into their host genome and generate copies of themselves through germline reinfections or retrotransposition events (Gilbert and Feschotte 2018;Greenwood et al 2018) .…”