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MBE Advance Access published online on June 2, 2004
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msh180
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2004; all rights reserved
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Accepted May 28, 2004

Original Articles

TAHRE, a Novel Telomeric Retrotransposon from Drosophila melanogaster, Reveals the Origin of Drosophila Telomeres

José P. Abad 1, Beatriz de Pablos 2, Kazutoyo Osoegawa 3, Pieter J. de Jong 3, Antonia Martín-Gallardo 4, Alfredo Villasante 1*

1 Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), CSIC-UAM, Madrid, Spain
2 Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), CSIC-UAM, Madrid, Spain; Servicio Interdepartamental de Investigación (SIdI), UAM, Madrid, Spain
3 Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), Oakland, CA, USA
4 Servicio Interdepartamental de Investigación (SIdI), UAM, Madrid, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: avillasante{at}cbm.uam.es.


  Abstract

Drosophila telomeres do not have typical telomerase repeats. Instead, two families of non-LTR retrotransposons, HeT-A and TART, maintain telomere length by occasional transposition to the chromosome ends. Despite the work on Drosophila telomeres its evolutionary origin remains controversial. Here, we describe a novel telomere-specific retroelement, that we name TAHRE (Telomere-Associated and HeT-A-Related Element). The structure of the three telomere-specific elements indicates that they had a common ancestor. These results imply that pre-existing transposable elements were recruited to perform the cellular function of telomere maintenance. A similar recruitment of a retrotransposal reverse transcriptase has been suggested as the common origin of telomerases.

Key Words: Telomeres, telomeric retrotransposons, Drosophila


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