Transposon telomeres are widely distributed in the Drosophila genus: TART elements in the virilis group.

ABSTRACT: Telomeres of most animals, plants, and unicellular eukaryotes are made up of tandem arrays of repeated DNA sequences produced by the enzyme telomerase. Drosophila melanogaster has an unusual variation on this theme; telomeres consist of tandem arrays of sequences produced by successive transpositions of two non-LTR retrotransposons, HeT-A and TART. To explore the phylogenetic distribution of these variant telomeres, we have looked for TART homologues in a distantly related Drosophila species, virilis. We have found elements that, despite many differences in nucleotide sequence, retain significant amino acid similarity to TART from D. melanogaster. These D. virilis TART elements have features that characterize TART elements in D. melanogaster: (i) they are found in tandem arrays on chromoso

SUBMITTER: Casacuberta E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC152298 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature