OVRE1:Shared Retroviral and Mobile Genetic Footprints in Gut and Vaginal Niches of a Patient with Unexplained Chronic Inflammation

Discovery of OVRE1 This study describes a female patient with chronic unexplained inflammation affecting both the gut and the vaginal mucosa, in whom routine microbiological and serological testing failed to identify a clear etiological agent. Metagenomic sequencing of gut and vaginal samples was performed, followed by stringent host read removal and functional profiling of the microbial metagenome using PFAM domain annotation. A rich landscape of retroviral, viral and mobile genetic element–associated domains was detected in both sites, including MLV‑like and BIV‑like motifs (MLVIN_C, BIV_Env), reverse transcriptase RVT_1, integrase cores (rve, phage integrase families), retroviral capsid proteins (Gag_p24/p30), zinc‑finger modules (zf‑C2H2/UBZ), and recurrent uncharacterized domains (DUF16, DUF2203). Quantitative analysis showed that these domains are enriched relative to the total predicted proteome in both gut and vaginal metagenomes, with higher overall enrichment of integrase, zinc‑finger and DUF families in the gut, and a more compact retroviral‑like cassette in the vaginal niche. Gene‑neighborhood analysis revealed contigs in the vaginal dataset where Gag, RT and integrase occur in proximity, consistent with a near-complete retroviral-like element, here provisionally designated OVRE1. These findings support the presence of a shared retro/mobile genetic "background" across the gut–vaginal axis that may contribute to chronic mucosal inflammation, and motivate the development of PFAM‑based diagnostic panels for patients with unexplained inflammatory syndromes.