Pushing the endogenous envelope

The majority of retroviral envelope glycoproteins characterized to date are typical of type I viral fusion proteins, having a receptor binding subunit associated with a fusion subunit. The fusion subunits of lentiviruses and alpha-, beta-, delta- and gammaretroviruses have a very conserved domain organization and conserved features of secondary structure, making them suitable for phylogenetic analyses. Such analyses, along with sequence comparisons, reveal evidence of numerous recombination events in which retroviruses have acquired envelope glycoproteins from heterologous sequences. Thus, the envelope gene (env) can have a history separate from that of the polymerase gene (pol), which is the most commonly used gene in phylogenetic analyses of retroviruses. Focusing on the fusion subunits of the genera listed above, we describe three distinct types of retroviral envelope glycoproteins, which we refer to as gamma-type, avian gamma-type and beta-type. By tracing these types within the 'fossil record' provided by endogenous retroviruses, we show that they have surprisingly distinct evolutionary histories and dynamics, with important implications for cross-species transmissions and the generation of novel lineages. These findings validate the utility of env sequences in contributing phylogenetic signal that enlarges our understanding of retrovirus evolution.