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A TY3/GYPSY retrotransposon‐like sequence localizes to the centromeric regions of cereal chromosomes
Author(s) -
Presting Gernot G.,
Malysheva Ludmilla,
Fuchs Jörg,
Schubert Ingo
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-313x.1998.00341.x
Subject(s) - retrotransposon , centromere , biology , genetics , long terminal repeat , repeated sequence , gene , clone (java method) , genomic dna , genome , integrase , microbiology and biotechnology , transposable element , chromosome
Summary A 745 bp sequence (pSau3A9) located at the centromeres of several cereal species was isolated from a sorghum BAC library byJianget al. (1996,Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 93, 14210–14213). We have amplified a partially homologous 809 bp sequence from barley genomic DNA by PCR and localized it to the centromeres of barley, wheat and rye chromosomes by fluorescentin situhybridization (FISH). Sequence analysis showed this barley homolog ofpSau3A9to have high similarity to the integrase region of the polyprotein gene ofTy3/gypsygroup retrotransposons. Using this integrase sequence as a probe, several clones were isolated from a lambda library constructed of genomic barley DNA. One of the lambda clones contained coding regions for all five catalytic sites characteristic of the retrotransposon polyprotein. Two direct repeats flanking the polyprotein gene are homologous to the cereal centromeric sequence described byAragón‐Alcaideet al. (1996,Chromosoma, 105, 261–268) and may represent all or part of the long‐terminal repeats (LTRs). Different plasmid subclones containing various regions of the lambda clone were used in FISH to show that the entire polyprotein gene and upstream flanking sequences, including the presumed LTR, are present at barley centromeres. The preferential (or exclusive) localization of an apparently complete retroelement within the centromeric regions of several cereal species raises interesting questions about its role in karyotype evolution and centromere function.