Bo-Hao Fang

Avian germline-restricted chromosomes are reservoirs for active and expressed long-terminal-repeat retroviruses.

Germline-restricted chromosomes (GRCs) occur only in germ cells and are absent from somatic cells in songbirds, but their contents and evolutionary mechanisms remain poorly understood. We performed comparative genomics on long-read GRC assemblies from male house finch (HF) (Haemorhous mexicanus), common rosefinch (RF)...