A synthetic biology approach allows inducible retrotransposition in whole plants.
Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements that transpose by reverse transcription of element RNA, followed by insertion of the cDNA into new positions of the host genome. Although they are major constituents of eukaryotic genomes, many facets of their biology remain to be understood. Transposition is generally rare, suggesting that it is subject to tight regulation. However, only the first regulatory step (transcriptional induction) is currently amenable to investigation in higher eukaryotes. To investigate the complete life cycle of a long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon in plants, we established a synthetic biology program on tobacco retrotransposon Tto1, and achieved transposition in whole plants triggered by an inducible promoter. The engineered element, iTto (inducible Tto1), is a novel tool for analysis of retrotransposition in plants. In addition, it allows to explore the potential of an inducible retrotransposon for insertional mutagenesis.


BACKGROUND
The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11693-010-9053-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Böhmdorfer
Gudrun
G
Tramontano
Andrea
A
Luxa
Kerstin
K
Bachmair
Andreas
A
Nature. 2009 Sep 17;461(7262):423-6
19734880
Plant J. 1998 Dec;16(6):735-43
10069079
Plant J. 2000 Jul;23(2):291-304
10929123
Nat Rev Genet. 2005 Feb;6(2):128-36
15640810
Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2003 Dec;16(12):1069-76
14651340
Plant Mol Biol. 1998 Feb;36(3):365-76
9484477
Nat Rev Genet. 2002 May;3(5):329-41
11988759
Nature. 2009 Sep 17;461(7262):427-30
19734882
Annu Rev Genet. 2002;36:489-519
12429701
Plant J. 1999 Oct;20(1):127-33
10571872
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Dec;15(6):621-7
16219458
Planta. 2001 Jul;213(3):370-8
11506359
Plant J. 1997 Mar;11(3):605-12
9107046
Nature. 2001 May 10;411(6834):212-4
11346800
Nat Rev Genet. 2005 Jan;6(1):24-35
15630419
Plant Cell. 2007 Jan;19(1):9-22
17259261
RNA. 2005 Aug;11(8):1181-91
16043504
EMBO J. 1993 Jun;12(6):2521-8
8389699
Nat Genet. 1999 Feb;21(2):209-12
9988275
Plant J. 2000 Oct;24(2):265-73
11069700
Virology. 2008 Apr 10;373(2):437-46
18191436
Plant Physiol. 2008 Jul;147(3):1264-78
18467467
Plant Cell. 1996 Apr;8(4):725-34
8624443
Plant Mol Biol. 1997 Jan;33(2):257-66
9037144
Mol Genet Genomics. 2006 Oct;276(4):378-90
16821043