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MBE Advance Access originally published online on June 29, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2005 22(10):2084-2089; doi:10.1093/molbev/msi202
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Research Article

MUSTANG Is a Novel Family of Domesticated Transposase Genes Found in Diverse Angiosperms

Rebecca K. Cowan, Douglas R. Hoen, Daniel J. Schoen and Thomas E. Bureau

McGill University, Biology Department, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1, Canada

E-mail: thomas.bureau{at}mcgill.ca.

While transposons have traditionally been viewed as genomic parasites or "junk DNA," the discovery of transposon-derived host genes has fueled an ongoing debate over the evolutionary role of transposons. In particular, while mobility-related open reading frames have been known to acquire host functions, the contribution of these types of events to the evolution of genes is not well understood. Here we report that genome-wide searches for Mutator transposase–derived host genes in Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia-0) and Oryza sativa ssp. japonica (cv. Nipponbare) (domesticated rice) identified 121 sequences, including the taxonomically conserved MUSTANG1. Syntenic MUSTANG1 orthologs in such varied plant species as rice, poplar, Arabidopsis, and Medicago truncatula appear to be under purifying selection. However, despite the evidence of this pathway of gene evolution, MUSTANG1 belongs to one of only two Mutator-like gene families with members in both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, suggesting that Mutator-like elements seldom evolve into taxonomically widespread host genes.

Key Words: genome • evolution • transposons • plants


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Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
D. R. Hoen, K. C. Park, N. Elrouby, Z. Yu, N. Mohabir, R. K. Cowan, and T. E. Bureau
Transposon-Mediated Expansion and Diversification of a Family of ULP-like Genes
Mol. Biol. Evol., June 1, 2006; 23(6): 1254 - 1268.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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