Origin and distribution of different retrotransposons in different taxa

Novel genome analysis technologies enable genomic studies of transposable elements (TEs) in different organisms. Population studies of human genome show thousands of individual TE insertions. These insertions are important source of natural human genetic variation. Researchers are beginning to develop population genomic data sets for evaluating the phenotypic impact of human TE polymorphisms. Because of the evidences of horizontal transfer of retrotransposons between different species genome, in this study we aimed to detect barley retrotransposons (Nikita and BAGY2) in the human genome. Inter retrotransposon amplified polymorphism polymerase chain reaction (IRAP PCR) were used to measure the distribution of Nikita and BAGY2 retroelements in the human genome. Analyses reveals that Nikita and BAGY2 are present in the human genome and show different distribution in the genome. The polymorphism ratios of retroelements suggest that Nikita and BAGY2 have been active retrotransposons in the human genome.