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The structure of hobo transposable elements and their insertion sites
Author(s) -
Streck R.D.,
MacGaffey J.E.,
Beckendorf S.K.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04690.x
Subject(s) - library science , national laboratory , biology , physics , computer science , engineering physics
The hobo transposable elements of Drosophila form a family of 3.0‐kb elements and their deletion derivatives. Their distribution is consistent with the model that 3.0‐kb elements are functionally complete but that smaller hobos are defective and require complete elements in trans for transposition. The sequence of one 3.0‐kb element is presented; it has several interesting features, including a 1.9‐kb open reading frame downstream from potential TATA and CAT sequences. Comparison of 11 independent insertion sites shows that in every case the hobo element has integrated at and duplicated either the sequence AC or CTTTNNNN. There is evidence that an eight nucleotide sequence internal to hobo that matches both of these sequences has been used as an insertion site for a second hobo element, as the first step in the creation of an internal deletion derivative. Structural similarities between hobo and the eukaryotic transposable elements P, Ac, 1723, and Tam3, found in widely divergent host organisms, suggest that they all transpose by a common mechanism.