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Identification of a recently active Prunus ‐specific non‐autonomous Mutator element with considerable genome shaping force
Author(s) -
Halász Júlia,
Kodad Ossama,
Hegedűs Attila
Publication year - 2014
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 - 10.1111/tpj.12551
Subject(s) - genome , biology , transposable element , genetics , inverted repeat , prunus , retrotransposon , genome size , genome evolution , gene , botany
Summary Miniature inverted‐repeat transposable elements ( MITE s) are known to contribute to the evolution of plants, but only limited information is available for MITE s in the Prunus genome. We identified a MITE that has been named Falling Stones , FaSt . All structural features (349‐bp size, 82‐bp terminal inverted repeats and 9‐bp target site duplications) are consistent with this MITE being a putative member of the Mutator transposase superfamily. FaSt showed a preferential accumulation in the short AT ‐rich segments of the euchromatin region of the peach genome. DNA sequencing and pollination experiments have been performed to confirm that the nested insertion of FaSt into the S‐haplotype‐specific F‐box gene of apricot resulted in the breakdown of self‐incompatibility (SI). A bioinformatics‐based survey of the known Rosaceae and other genomes and a newly designed polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ) assay verified the Prunoideae ‐specific occurrence of FaSt elements. Phylogenetic analysis suggested a recent activity of FaSt in the Prunus genome. The occurrence of a nested insertion in the apricot genome further supports the recent activity of FaSt in response to abiotic stress conditions. This study reports on a presumably active non‐autonomous Mutator element in Prunus that exhibits a major indirect genome shaping force through inducing loss‐of‐function mutation in the SI locus.