Résumé
Insect endogenous retroviruses (IERVs) are present in the genome of several species. It was shown that gypsy is an active endogenous retrovirus in Drosophila melanogaster, which could be transmitted to individuals fed with gypsy-containing extracts. Moreover, gypsy replication depends on cell-cell transfer. Here, we review recent findings which help to elucidate the structure and the role of gypsy Env protein during gypsy horizontal and vertical transfers.