Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on September 15, 2004
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msh260
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2004; all rights reserved
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
22/1/126    most recent
msh260v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Silva, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Carlton, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Silva, J. C.
Right arrow Articles by Carlton, J. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Accepted September 2, 2004

Research Article

A Potentially Functional Mariner Transposable Element in the Protist Trichomonas vaginalis

Joana C. Silva 1*, Felix Bastida 2, Shelby L. Bidwell 1, Patricia J. Johnson 2, and Jane M. Carlton 1

1 The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, U.S.A.
2 Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, U.S.A.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jsilva{at}tigr.org.


  Abstract

Mariner transposable elements encoding a D,D34D motif-bearing transposase are characterized by their pervasiveness among, and exclusivity to, animal phyla. To date several hundred sequences have been obtained from taxa ranging from cnidarians to humans, only two of which are known to be functional. Related transposons have been identified in plants and fungi, but their absence among protists is noticeable. Here, we identify and characterize Tvmar1, the first representative of the mariner family to be found in a species of protist, the human parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. This is the first D,D34D element to be found outside the animal kingdom, and its inclusion in the mariner family is supported by both structural and phylogenetic analyses. Remarkably, Tvmar1 has all the hallmarks of a functional element, and has recently expanded to several hundred copies in the genome of T. vaginalis. Our results show that a new potentially active mariner has been found, which belongs to a distinct mariner lineage, and has successfully invaded a non-animal, single-celled organism. The considerable genetic distance between Tvmar1 and other mariners may have valuable implications for the design of new, high-efficiency vectors to be used in transfection studies in protists.

Keywords: transposon; mariner; protist; parabasilid; Trichomonas vaginalis.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. D. Hollister and B. S. Gaut
Population and Evolutionary Dynamics of Helitron Transposable Elements in Arabidopsis thaliana
Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2007; 24(11): 2515 - 2524.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
J. M. Carlton, R. P. Hirt, J. C. Silva, A. L. Delcher, M. Schatz, Q. Zhao, J. R. Wortman, S. L. Bidwell, U. C. M. Alsmark, S. Besteiro, et al.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Sexually Transmitted Pathogen Trichomonas vaginalis
Science, January 12, 2007; 315(5809): 207 - 212.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
E. J. Pritham, C. Feschotte, and S. R. Wessler
Unexpected Diversity and Differential Success of DNA Transposons in Four Species of Entamoeba Protozoans
Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2005; 22(9): 1751 - 1763.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.