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Cloning and characterization of Acmar1 , a mariner ‐like element in the asiatic honey bee, Apis cerana japonica (Hymenoptera, Apocrita)
Author(s) -
Sumitani Megumi,
Lee Jae Min,
Hatakeyama Masatsugu,
Oishi Kugao
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
archives of insect biochemistry and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.576
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1520-6327
pISSN - 0739-4462
DOI - 10.1002/arch.10043
Subject(s) - biology , transposase , genetics , apis cerana , sequence analysis , genome , transposable element , botany , gene , honey bees
A mariner ‐like element was cloned from the genome of the Asiatic honey bee, Apis cerana japonica (Hymenoptera, Apocrita). The (composite) clone, named Acmar1 , was 1,378 bp long, and encoded 336 amino acids corresponding to a transposase‐like putative polypeptide in a single open reading frame. The D,D(34)D motif, the catalytic domain of the mariner transposase, was present, although there was a deletion of five amino acid residues within it as compared with the active transposase in Drosophila mauritiana . Nineteen‐bp‐long imperfect inverted terminal repeat‐like sequences flanked by TA dinucleotides, the typical target site for mariner insertion, were observed. Southern blot analysis using a fragment covering two‐thirds of the Acmar1 transposase coding sequence as a probe indicated the presence of multiple Acmar1 ‐like elements in the genome. Maximum‐parsimony phylogenetic analysis based on the transposase amino acid sequences of insect mariner ‐like elements revealed that Acmar1 is a member of the mellifera subfamily. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 50:183–190, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.