title: The Sycp1 loci of the mouse genome: successive retropositions of a meiotic gene during the recent evolution of the genus.
abstract: The murine Sycp1 gene is expressed at the early stages of meiosis. We show that it is composed of a number of small exons and localized on mouse chromosome 3. In the laboratory strains, two retrogenes were also identified. The first one (Sycp1-ps1), on chromosome 7, has accumulated point mutations and deletions and is not transcribed. A second retrogene (Sycp1-ps2), on chromosome 8, is inserted within the continuity of a moderately repeated element, in an intron of another gene (Cad11). The two retroposition events can be dated to distinct periods in the evolution of the Muridae. Sycp1-ps2 has kept features indicative of a relatively recent origin, namely a nearly intact coding region, a poly(A) tail, and 14-bp terminal repeats. Its recent origin was confirmed by the fact that it is found in all the laboratory strains of mice, but neither in a recent isolate from Mus musculus domesticus wild stocks nor in the closely related subspecies M. musculus musculus, M. m. molossinus, M. m. castaneus, and M. m. bactrianus. Appearance of the more ancient Sycp1-ps1 retrogene is concomitant with the radiation of the genus. It is present in various Mus species (M. spretus, M. spicilegus, M. macedonicus, and M. cookii), but neither in the rat nor in the more closely related Pyromis genus. Transposition of retrotranscripts during meiosis and their hereditary establishment thus appear to occur relatively frequently. They may, therefore, play a significant role in the evolutionary process.
authors.affiliation: Unité 470, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Université de Nice, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sage
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Mattei
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Guénet
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoög
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rassoulzadegan
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cuzin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018703:Founder Effect; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009115:Muridae / Q000235:genetics*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C489754:Sycp1 protein, mouse