Retrotransposition of the Drosophila LINE I element can induce deletion in the target DNA: a simple model also accounting for the variability of the normally observed target site duplications.
Retrotransposition of the Drosophila melanogaster LINE I element normally generates target site duplications of variable length, as classically observed for most LINE elements. Using an I element "marked" with an indicator gene for in vivo detection of transposition that we previously developed, we show that deletion in the target DNA can also take place, as a direct consequence of I element transposition. We propose a simple model accounting for the generation of both target site duplications of variable length and target DNA deletions, which relies upon template switching of the LINE-encoded reverse transcriptase between single-strand DNA at the target site and the LINE template.
Jensen
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S
Institut Gustave Roussy, CNRS URA147, Villejuif, France.
Gassama
M P
MP
Heidmann
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T
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D016324:Sequence Tagged Sites; D013698:Templates, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase