Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 14, 144-155, Copyright © 1997 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
R Howell and K Usdin
Mammalian genomes contain many thousands of members of a family of
retrotransponsons known as L1 (or LINE-1) elements. These elements lack
long terminal repeats (LTRs), and are thought to use a retroposition
mechanism than differs from that of retroviruses and other LTR- containing
retroelements. In order to define those regions of the L1 element that may
be important for L1 retroposition, we examined the 3' untranslated regions
(UTRs) of L1 elements from a diverse group of mammals. We show that while
the 3' UTRs of L1 elements from different species share little if any
sequence homology, they all contain a G- rich polypurine tract of variable
length and sequence which can form one or more intrastrand tetraplexes.
This conservation over the 100 Myr since the mammalian radiation suggests
that either the G-rich motif itself or a conserved structure such as the
tetraplex that can be formed by this motif is a significant structural
feature of L1 elements and may play a role in their propagation.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The ability to form intrastrand tetraplexes is an evolutionarily conserved feature of the 3' end of L1 retrotransposons
Section on Genomic Structure and Function, National Institute of Diabetes, and Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
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