title: Rat L (long interspersed repeated DNA) elements contain guanine-rich homopurine sequences that induce unpairing of contiguous duplex DNA.
abstract: The L family (long interspersed repeated DNA) of mobile genetic elements is a persistent feature of the mammalian genome. In rats, this family contains approximately equal to 40,000 members and accounts for approximately equal to 10% of the haploid genome. We demonstrate here that the guanine-rich homopurine stretches located at the right end of L-DNA induce oligonucleotide uptake by contiguous duplex DNA. The uptake is dependent on negative supercoiling and the length of the homopurine stretch and occurs even when the L-DNA homopurine stretches are introduced into a different DNA environment. The bound oligomer primes DNA synthesis when DNA polymerase and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates are added, resulting in a faithful copy of the template to which the oligonucleotide had bound. The implications of this property of the L-DNA guanine-rich homopurine stretches in the amplification, recombination, and dispersal of L elements is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Section on Genomic Structure and Function, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usdin
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Furano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004261:DNA Replication; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D006147:Guanine; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; C027903:oligo (dT); D006147:Guanine; D004247:DNA