Properties of the various Botmar1 transcripts in imagoes of the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae).
Botmar1 elements are mariner-like elements (MLEs), class II transposable elements that occur in the genome of the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. Each haploid B. terrestris genome contains about 230 Botmar1, consisting entirely of 1.3-kb and 0.85-kb elements. During their evolution in the B. terrestris genome, two Botmar1 lineages have been differentiated in terms of their nucleic acid sequences and the differences found in their 5' untranslated regions suggest that they could be transcribed differently in B. terrestris. Here, we show that small amounts of Botmar1 mRNA occur in RNA extracts purified from B. terrestris imagoes. This indicates that the Botmar1 transcription is either weak in imagoes, or is restricted to very few cells. The cloning of several mRNAs reveals that only lineage-2 Botmar1 elements are transcribed. This transcription is specific, and uses cardinal initiators and terminators of eukaryotic elements in the Botmar1 elements. The intrastrand stem-loop folds in the mRNA theoretically synthesized by elements of the first lineage suggest that mRNA maintenance in cells might be self-regulated by RNA interference.
Petit
Agnès
A
Laboratoire d'Etude des Parasites Génétiques, FRE-CNRS 2969, Université François Rabelais, UFR des Sciences et Techniques, Bâtiment L, Parc de Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France.
Rouleux-Bonnin
Florence
F
Lambelé
Marie
M
Pollet
Nicolas
N
Bigot
Yves
Y
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010802:Phylogeny; D034622:RNA Interference; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger