Q: a new retrotransposon from the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.
A new family of retrotransposons (RTPs) without long terminal repeats (LTRs), designated Q, has been isolated from the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. The nucleotide sequence of a complete element Q-22, was determined and analysed. Approximately 4.5 kb long, Q-22 contains two long overlapping open reading frames (ORFs) that potentially encode proteins with nucleic acid binding and reverse transcriptase domains similar to those of non-LTR RTPs previously described. The 3' end is characterized by variable numbers of the triplet repeat TAA, immediately following a polyadenylation signal. In situ hybridization of nurse cell polytene chromosomes revealed about twenty labelled sites distributed over all arms and diffuse hybridization to the chromocentre. Cross-hybridizing sequences with the same internal structure occur in all members of the A. gambiae complex. Genomic Southerns of wild A. gambiae specimens probed with Q suggest that Q is or recently was capable of retrotransposition.
Besansky
N J
NJ
Malaria Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30341.
Bedell
J A
JA
Mukabayire
O
O
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004247:DNA