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MBE Advance Access published online on December 5, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msl192
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© The Author 2006. 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@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

Bats with hATs: Evidence for Recent DNA Transposon Activity in Genus Myotis

David A. Raya,*, Heidi J. T. Pagana, Michelle L. Thompsona and Richard D. Stevensb

a Department of Biology, West Virginia University, 53 Campus Dr. Morgantown, WV 26506
b Department of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Bldg. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

* Address for correspondence and reprints: Dr. David A. Ray, Department of Biology, West Virginia University, 53 Campus Dr. Morgantown, WV 26506, Phone: (304) 293-5201, Fax (304) 293-6363, E-mail: david.ray{at}mail.wvu.edu

Transposable elements make up a significant fraction of many eukaryotic genomes. While both classes of transposable elements, the DNA transposons and the retrotransposons, show substantial expansion in plants and invertebrates, the DNA transposons are thought to have become inactive in mammalian genomes long ago. Here, we report the first evidence for recent activity of DNA transposons in a mammalian lineage, the bat genus Myotis. Six recently active families of non-autonomous hAT transposons were identified in the M. lucifugus genome using computational tools. Low sequence divergence among the individual sequences and between individual sequences and their respective consensus sequences suggest their recent expansion in the M. lucifugus genome. Furthermore, amplification and sequencing of polymorphic insertion loci in a related taxon, M. austroriparius, confirms their recent activity. Myotis is one of the largest mammalian genera with 103 species. The discovery of DNA transposon activity in this genus may therefore influence our understanding of genome evolution and diversification in bats and in mammals in general. Furthermore, the identification of a likely autonomous element may lead to new approaches for mammalian genetic manipulation.

Key Words: Mobile element • hAT • transposon • Chiroptera


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