Drosophila telomeres: new views on chromosome evolution

In Drosophila, chromosome ends (telomeres) are composed of telomere-specific transposable elements (the retroposons HeT-A and TART). These elements are a bona fide part of the cellular machinery yet have many of the hallmarks of retrotransposable elements and retroviruses, raising the possibility th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in genetics 1996-02, Vol.12 (2), p.48-52
Main Authors: Pardue, Mary Lou, Danilevskaya, Olga N., Lowenhaupt, Ky, Slot, Franchot, Traverse, Karen L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
chromosome ends
chromosomes
Cytogenetics
Drosophila
Drosophila - genetics
Drosophila melanogaster
Evolution, Molecular
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
genetic change
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
heterochromatin
Invertebrata
molecular genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Retroelements
retrotransposons
Telomere - genetics
transposition
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Summary:In Drosophila, chromosome ends (telomeres) are composed of telomere-specific transposable elements (the retroposons HeT-A and TART). These elements are a bona fide part of the cellular machinery yet have many of the hallmarks of retrotransposable elements and retroviruses, raising the possibility that parasitic transposable elements and viruses might have evolved from mechanisms that the cell uses to maintain its chromosomes. It is striking that Drosophila, the model organism for many discoveries in genetics, development and molecular biology (including the classical concept of telomeres), should prove to have chromosome ends different from the generally accepted model. Studies of these telomere-specific retrotransposable elements raise questions about conventional wisdom concerning not only telomeres, but also transposable elements and heterochromatin.
ISSN:0168-9525
DOI:10.1016/0168-9525(96)81399-0