title: A unified classification system for eukaryotic transposable elements.
abstract: Our knowledge of the structure and composition of genomes is rapidly progressing in pace with their sequencing. The emerging data show that a significant portion of eukaryotic genomes is composed of transposable elements (TEs). Given the abundance and diversity of TEs and the speed at which large quantities of sequence data are emerging, identification and annotation of TEs presents a significant challenge. Here we propose the first unified hierarchical classification system, designed on the basis of the transposition mechanism, sequence similarities and structural relationships, that can be easily applied by non-experts. The system and nomenclature is kept up to date at the WikiPoson web site.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wicker
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sabot
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hua-Van
authors.forename: Jeffrey L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bennetzen
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Capy
authors.forename: Boulos
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chalhoub
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flavell
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morgante
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Panaud
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paux
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: SanMiguel
authors.forename: Alan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Schulman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements