Author:
Bouneau Laurence,Fischer Cécile,Ozouf-Costaz Catherine,Froschauer Alexander,Jaillon Olivier,Coutanceau Jean-Pierre,Körting Cornelia,Weissenbach Jean,Bernot Alain,Volff Jean-Nicolas
Abstract
The fish retrotransposable element Zebulon encodes a reverse
transcriptase and a carboxy-terminal restriction enzyme-like endonuclease, and
is related phylogenetically to site-specific non-LTR retrotransposons from
nematodes. Zebulon was detected in the pufferfishes Tetraodon
nigroviridis and Takifugu rubripes, as well as in the zebrafish
Danio rerio. Structural analysis suggested that Zebulon, in
contrast to most non-LTR retrotransposons, might be able to retrotranspose as
a partial tandem array. Zebulon was active relatively recently in the
compact genome of T. nigroviridis, in which it contributed to the
extension of intergenic and intronic sequences, and possibly to the formation
of genomic rearrangements. Accumulation of Zebulon together with
other retrotransposons was observed in some heterochromatic chromosomal
regions of the genome of T. nigroviridis that might serve as
reservoirs for active elements. Hence, pufferfish compact genomes are not
evolutionarily inert and contain active retrotransposons, suggesting the
presence of mechanisms allowing accumulation of retrotransposable elements in
heterochromatin, but minimizing their impact on euchromatic regions.
Homologous recombination between partial tandem sequences eliminating active
copies of Zebulon and reducing the size of insertions in intronic and
intragenic regions might represent such a mechanism.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Subject
Genetics (clinical),Genetics
Cited by
41 articles.
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