A novel feature of microsatellites in plants: a distribution gradient along the direction of transcription.
A computer-based analysis was conducted to assess the characteristics of microsatellites in transcribed regions of rice and Arabidopsis. In addition, two mammals were simultaneously analyzed for a comparative analysis. Our analyses confirmed a novel plant-specific feature in which there is a gradient in microsatellite density along the direction of transcription. It was also confirmed that pyrimidine-rich microsatellites are found intensively near the transcription start sites, specifically in the two plants, but not in the mammals. Our results suggest that microsatellites located at high frequency in the 5'-flanking regions of plant genes can potentially act as factors in regulating gene expression.
Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0035, Japan.
Shigeo
S
Fujimori
Takanori
T
Washio
Kenichi
K
Higo
Yasuhiro
Y
Ohtomo
Kazuo
K
Murakami
Kenichi
K
Matsubara
Jun
J
Kawai
Piero
P
Carninci
Yoshihide
Y
Hayashizaki
Shoshi
S
Kikuchi
Masaru
M
Tomita
D024506:5' Flanking Region; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
D018744:DNA, Plant; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases