Endogenization and excision of human herpesvirus 6 in human genomes

The genome of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is integrated within the nuclear genome of about 1% of humans, but how this came about is not clear. HHV-6 integrates into telomeres, and this has recently been associated with polymorphisms affecting MOV10L1 . MOV10L1 is located on the subtelomere of chromosome 22q (chr22q) and is required to make PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). piRNAs block integration of transposons in the germline, so piRNA-mediated repression of HHV-6 integration has been suspected. Whether integrated HHV-6 can reactive into an infectious virus is also uncertain. In vitro , recombination of the viral genome along its terminal direct repeats (DRs) leads to excision from the telomere and viral reactivation, but the expected single DR “scar” has not been described in vivo . We analyzed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 13,040 subjects, including 7,485 from Japan. We found an association between integrated HHV-6 and polymorphisms on chr22q in Japanese subjects. However, association with the reported MOV10L1 polymorphism was driven by physical linkage to a single ancient endogenous HHV-6A variant integrated into the telomere of chr22q in East Asians. We resolved the junction of the human chromosome with this viral genome using long read sequencing. Unexpectedly, an HHV-6B variant has also endogenized in chr22q; two endogenous HHV-6 variants at this locus thus account for 72% of all integrated HHV-6 in Japan. We also report human genomes carrying only one portion of the HHV-6B genome, a single DR, supporting in vivo excision and viral reactivation. Using WGS data from North American families, we show that the incidence of HHV-6 integration into the germline is lower than its prevalence, and that integrated HHV-6 is not associated with the reported variant in MOV10L1 . Together these results explain the recently reported association between integrated HHV-6 and MOV10L1/ piRNAs, suggest exaptation of HHV-6 in its coevolution with human chr22q, and clarify the evolution and risk of reactivation of the only intact non-retroviral genome known to be present in human germlines. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infects most people during childhood, usually only causing fever and rash. Reactivation of HHV-6 has been linked to a number of neurological diseases including encephalitis, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. However, about 1% of people are born with the HHV-6 genome present within their genome, included in the end “cap” of one of their 46 chromosomes. Little is known about how and when HHV-6 genomes entered human genomes, whether or not they still do, and whether or not this poses risk for virus reactivation. We looked for HHV-6 in genome sequences from over 13,000 people. Most HHV-6 variants present in human genomes have been co-evolving with human chromosomes for many generations, and new integration events are rare. Surprisingly, in almost three fourths of Japanese people with HHV-6 in their genome, HHV-6 integrated in the same end of the same chromosome – 22q. Persistence of the HHV-6 genome within the short “cap” that preserves the end of chromosome 22q suggests that the integrated viral sequence may have taken on a useful function for this chromosome. We also found that some human genomes harbor only one part of the HHV-6 genome. This part is the same part that remains after experimental viral reactivation, during which most of the virus is cut out of the genome. This warrants assessment of the risk that integration of HHV-6 into inherited human genomes is not irreversible, and possibly leads to production of infectious virus.