title: Ty1-copia group retrotransposons and the evolution of retroelements in the eukaryotes.
abstract: Ty1-copia group retrotransposons are among the best studied transposable elements in the eukaryotes. This review discusses the extent of these transposons in the eukaryote kingdoms and compares models for the evolution of these genetic elements in the light of recent phylogenetic data. These data show that the Ty1-copia group is widespread among invertebrate eukaryotes, especially in the higher plant kingdom, where these genetic elements are unusually common and heterogeneous in their sequence. The phylogenetic data also suggest that the present day spectrum of Ty1-copia group retrotransposons has been influenced both by divergence during vertical transmission down evolving lineages and by horizontal transmission between distantly related species. Lastly, the factors affecting Ty1-copia group retrotransposon copy number and sequence heterogeneity in eukaryotic genomes and the effects of transpositional quiescence and defective retrotransposons upon evolution of Ty1-copia group retrotransposons are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, The University, Dundee, Scotland.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Flavell
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D003673:Defective Viruses / Q000235:genetics*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015752:Genes, env; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements