Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 15, 837-853, Copyright © 1998 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Z Tu, J Isoe and JA Guzova
A retrotransposon named Lian-Aa1 was discovered in an intron of an AaHR3-1
gene of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. This retrotransposon
contained a long open reading frame with 1,219 amino acids that included
endonuclease, reverse transcriptase, and RNase H domains. It was shown that
in the Rock strain of Ae. aegypti, there were up to 1,380 copies of Lian
elements, equivalent to 0.8% of the entire genome. Five additional copies
of Lian elements were isolated, mapped by restriction digestion, and
partially sequenced. The 5' and 3' ends of the Lian family were determined
by comparing the terminal sequences of the six copies and were subsequently
confirmed by the identification of putative target duplications flanking
Lian-Aa1 and Lian-Aa2. The Lian family is likely a novel family of
non-long-terminal- repeat (non-LTR) retrotransposons that terminate in a
repeat of (CTGA- TAC)2. On average, the six copies of Lian elements showed
only 0.6% sequence divergence at the nucleotide level in both a 735-bp
region at the 5' end and a 1,124-bp coding region. Genomic Southern blots
also revealed a very high degree of similarity among hundreds of Lian
elements, suggesting very recent activity of Lian. Furthermore, all six
analyzed Lian elements were closely associated with one or more different
families of repetitive elements. It is possible that these associations
could reflect the complex relationship between Lian elements and the rest
of the Ae. aegypti genome. Phylogenetic analyses based on the reverse
transcriptase, domains of 36 non-LTR retrotransposons including Lian-Aa1
identified five major subgroups that were supported by bootstrap
replications. In contrast to the majority of non-LTR retrotransposons,
Lian-Aa1 has an RNase H domain that is similar to a few other non-LTR
retrotransposons and some retroviruses, which is consistent with the
previously proposed independent assortment of different domains during the
evolution of retroelements.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Structural, genomic, and phylogenetic analysis of Lian, a novel family of non-LTR retrotransposons in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA. jaketu@ag.arizona.edu
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