A novel tRNA species as an origin of short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs). Equine SINEs may have originated from tRNA(Ser).
Short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs) were isolated from the equine genome and characterized. The equine SINE (ERE-1) family has several features characteristic of tRNA-derived retroposons. The five members of the equine family of SINEs are approximately 230 nucleotides in length and terminate with a sequence rich in oligo(A). They are all flanked by direct repeats at the 5' and 3' ends, and such repeats are the hallmarks of retroposons. In addition, the ERE-1 family has a tRNA-related region, which is similar to tRNA(Ser) of Drosophila (65% identity). tRNA(Ser) is a novel tRNA with respect to the origin of SINEs and has not previously been recognized among the twenty tRNA-derived SINEs characterized to date. The members of the ERE-1 family were found to be distributed among five species in the genus Equus, and their amplification may have contributed to the genetic variability of their hosts during evolution.
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Tokyo.
M
M
Sakagami
K
K
Ohshima
H
H
Mukoyama
H
H
Yasue
N
N
Okada
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics; D006736:Horses / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012343:RNA, Transfer; D012362:RNA, Transfer, Ser; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D012362:RNA, Transfer, Ser; D012343:RNA, Transfer