Chicken (Gallus gallus) endogenous retrovirus generates genomic variations in the chicken genome

摘要

BackgroundTransposable elements (TEs) comprise ~10% of the chicken (Gallus gallus) genome. The content of TEs is much lower than that of mammalian genomes, where TEs comprise around half of the genome. Endogenous retroviruses are responsible for ~1.3% of the chicken genome. Among them is Gallus gallus endogenous retrovirus 10 (GGERV10), one of the youngest endogenous retrovirus families, which emerged in the chicken genome around 3 million years ago.