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Pak. J. Bot., 47(4): 1367-1375, 2015. |
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Updated: 18-08-15 | ||||
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MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND DIVERSITY OF A NOVEL NON-AUTONOMOUS MUTATOR-LIKE TRANSPOSON FAMILY IN BRASSICA
FAISAL NOUROZ1,2, SHUMAILA NOREEN3 AND J.S. HESLOP-HARRISON2
Abstract: Transposable elements (TEs) are capable of mobilizing from one genomic location to other, with changes in their copy numbers. Mutator-like elements (MULEs) are DNA transposons characterized by 9 bp target site duplications (TSDs), with high variability in sequence and length, and include non-conserved terminal inverted repeats (TIRs). We identified and characterized a family of Mutator-like elements designated as Shahroz. The structural and molecular analyses revealed that family had a small number of mostly defective non-autonomous MULEs and has shown limited activity in the evolutionary history of the Brassica A-genome. The Shahroz elements range in size from 2734 to 3160 bp including 76 bp imperfect TIRs and 9 bp variable TSDs. The individual copies have shown high homology (52–99%) in their entire lengths. The study revealed that the elements are less in numbers but active in Brassica rapa genomes and PCR amplification revealed their specificity and amplification in A-genome containing diploid and polyploids Brassica. The phylogenetic analysis of Brassica MULEs with other plant Mutator elements revealed that no correlation exists between Brassica MULEs and other elements suggesting a separate line of evolution. Analyzing the regions flanking the insertions revealed that the insertions have showed a preference for AT rich regions. The detailed study of these insertions revealed that although less in number and small sizes, they have played a role in Brassica genome evolution by their mobilization.
Key words: Transposable elements, Brassica, Mutator, Diversity, Shahroz, Phylogenetic analysis.
1Department of Botany, Hazara University Mansehra Pakistan 2Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK 3Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK *Corresponding author e-mail: faisalnouroz@gmail.com, +92 3355851620 |
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