Characterisation of retroviruses in the horse genome and their transcriptional activity via transcriptome sequencing

► A large number of epsilon like ERVs were identified in the horse genome via data mining. ► Further gamma and beta retroviral ERV groups were also identified. ► At least one full length gamma retroviral locus was identified. ► RNA expression of ERVs was quantified using RNA transcriptome data. ► Phylogenetic analysis did not show clustering of transcriptionally active viruses.