Comparative sequence analysis and predictions for the envelope glycoproteins of insect endogenous retroviruses

Insect endogenous retroviruses (IERVs) are present in the genome of several species. Previous studies have shown a relationship between the envelope glycoproteins (Envs) and fusion proteins (FPs) of several baculoviruses. We used this sequence similarity to predict fusion domains in the Envs of IERVs. We suggest that FPs and Envs share several specific sequence and structural motifs with other RNA viruses in the viral transmembrane protein superfamily.