Parvovirus-derived endogenous viral elements in two South American rodent genomes

We describe endogenous viral elements (EVEs) derived from parvoviruses (family Parvoviridae) in the genomes of the longtailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) and the degu (Octodon degus). The novel EVEs include dependovirus-related elements and representatives of a clearly distinct parvovirus lineage that also has endogenous representatives in marsupial genomes. In the degu, one dependovirus-derived EVE was found to carry an intact reading frame and was differentially expressed in vivo, with increased expression in the liver.