title: Retrotransposition of Alu elements: how many sources?
abstract: It is generally thought that only a few Alu elements are capable of retrotransposition and that these 'master' sources produce inactive copies. Here, we use a network phylogenetic approach to demonstrate that recently integrated human-specific Alu subfamilies typically contain 10-20% of secondary source elements that contributed 20-40% of all subfamily members. This multiplicity of source elements provides new insight into the remarkably successful amplification strategy of the Alu family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cordaux
authors.forename: Dale J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hedges
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Batzer
mesh_terms: D020087:Alu Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D018626:Retroelements / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements