Accumulation of Spock and Worf, two novel non-LTR retrotransposons, on the neo-Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda

Transposable elements constitute a major fraction of eukaryotic genomes. Here, I characterize two novel non-LTR retrotransposons, cloned from the neo-Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda. Worf is 4.1 kb in size and shows homology to the T1-2 non-LTR transposon characterized in Anopheles. Spock is 4.9...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular biology and evolution 2003-02, Vol.20 (2), p.173-181
Main Author: Bachtrog, Doris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Blotting, Southern
Chromosome Mapping
Chromosomes - ultrastructure
Cloning, Molecular
DNA Transposable Elements
Drosophila - genetics
Drosophila miranda
Gene Library
In Situ Hybridization
Models, Genetic
Molecular Sequence Data
Open Reading Frames
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Retrotransposons
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Terminal Repeat Sequences - genetics
transposon Spock
transposon Worf
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Summary:Transposable elements constitute a major fraction of eukaryotic genomes. Here, I characterize two novel non-LTR retrotransposons, cloned from the neo-Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda. Worf is 4.1 kb in size and shows homology to the T1-2 non-LTR transposon characterized in Anopheles. Spock is 4.9 kb in size and shows similarity to the Doc element of D. melanogaster. Southern blot analysis of both elements yielded stronger signals for male DNA. In situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes revealed that both elements are accumulating on the neo-Y chromosome of D. miranda. PCR analysis was conducted to investigate the frequency of spock and worf and of the previously identified transposons, TRIM and TRAM, at individual chromosomal sites among 12 strains of D. miranda. Contrary to the observation that element frequencies are usually kept low at individual sites in Drosophila, the four transposons investigated are fixed at their genomic locations on the neo-Y chromosome. These results support the hypothesis that transposons accumulate in nonrecombining regions and may be one cause of the heteromorphism of sex chromosomes.
ISSN:0737-4038
1537-1719
DOI:10.1093/molbev/msg035