Retention of the virus-derived sequences in the nuclear genome of grapevine as a potential pathway to virus resistance.

Background: Previous studies have revealed a wide-spread occurence of the partial and complete genomes of the reverse-transcribing pararetroviruses in the nuclear genomes of herbaceous plants. Although the absence of the virus-encoded integrases attests to the random and incidental incorporation of the viral sequences, their presence could have functional implications for the virus-host interactions.

Hypothesis: Analyses of two nuclear genomes of grapevine revealed multiple events of horizontal gene transfer from pararetroviruses.