title: Integrase diversity and transcription of the maize retrotransposon Grande.
abstract: Grande is an abundant gypsy-like retrotransposon present in the genera Zea and Tripsacum. Related retro transposon families can be found in sorghum, rice, and barley, but not in wheat or rye. We have amplified and sequenced several copies of part of the integrase domain derived from the Zea mays, Zea diploperennis, and Tripsacum dactyloides genomes. There are no significant differences in divergence or clustering between the integrase sequences of these species. The substitution rate for synonimous sites was found to be higher than those of non-synomymous sites; this indicates that Grande integrase has been under purifying selection for function. Grande is transcribed in leaves. The transcripts show sequence diversity similar to that of genomic sequences, but belong to restricted clades; this indicates that only some evolutionary branches of Grande have retained transcriptional competence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Consorci Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas - Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Jordi Girona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Alan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Schulman
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martínez-Izquierdo
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Vicient
mesh_terms: D018628:Gene Dosage; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D018626:Retroelements / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018626:Retroelements; D019426:Integrases