title: CM-gag, a transposable-like element reiterated in the genome of Culex pipiens mosquitoes, contains only a gag gene.
abstract: CM-gag elements constitute an homogeneous family of sequences that are reiterated in the genome of Culex pipiens strains from different continents. Apparently complete 1.75 kb CM-gag copies are flanked by target-site duplications and have a polyadenylation signal near their 3' end. They potentially contain a unique gene encoding a putative protein that displays homologies with nucleic acid binding proteins and the gag polypeptide of retroviruses and retrotransposons, but that does not encode a reverse transcriptase. CM-gag elements are similar in their genetic organization to the telomeric transposable sequences Het-A from Drosophila melanogaster, but Southern-hybridization patterns indicate that the former are more probably dispersed in various areas of the mosquito genome. The homogeneity of CM-gag copies that are distributed worldwide suggests that they have most probably been amplified recently. Furthermore, selective constraints against amino acid changes have been acting on these sequences, suggesting that they need to encode the gag-like protein to be incorporated into the chromosomes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Moléculaire, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, IBEAS, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bensaadi-Merchermek
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cagnon
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Desmons
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Salvado
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karama
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mouchès
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003465:Culex / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000235:genetics*; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005815:Genetic Code; D016678:Genome; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D015683:Gene Products, gag