An Ac-like transposable element family with transcriptionally active Y-linked copies in the white campion, Silene latifolia.
An RFLP genomic subtraction was used to isolate male-specific sequences in the species Silene latifolia. One isolated fragment, SLP2, shares similarity to a portion of the Activator (Ac) transposase from Zea mays and to related proteins from other plant species. Southern blot analysis of male and female S. latifolia genomic DNA shows that SLP2 belongs to a low-copy-number repeat family with two Y-linked copies. Screening of a S. latifolia male genomic library using SLP2 as a probe led to the isolation of five clones, which were partially sequenced. One clone contains two large open reading frames that can be joined into a sequence encoding a putative protein of 682 amino acids by removing a short intron. Database searches and phylogenetic analysis show that this protein belongs to the hAT superfamily of transposases, closest to Tag2 (Arabidopsis thaliana), and contains all of the defined domains critical for the activity of these transposases. PCR with genomic and cDNA templates from S. latifolia male, female, and hermaphrodite individuals revealed that one of the Y-linked copies is transcriptionally active and alternatively spliced. This is the first report of a transcriptionally active transposable element (TE) family in S. latifolia and the first DNA transposon residing on a plant Y chromosome. The potential activity and regulation of this TE family and its use for Y chromosome gene discovery is discussed.
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts 02125, USA.
Ellen J
EJ
Pritham
Y Hi
YH
Zhang
Cédric
C
Feschotte
Rick V
RV
Kesseli
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015698:Genomic Library; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D029751:Silene / Q000235:genetics*; D019895:Transposases / Q000235:genetics; D014998:Y Chromosome
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D019895:Transposases