Different evolutionary fates of recently integrated human and chimpanzee LINE-1 retrotransposons.

ABSTRACT: The long interspersed element-1 (LINE-1 or L1) is a highly successful retrotransposon in mammals. L1 elements have continued to actively propagate subsequent to the human-chimpanzee divergence, approximately 6 million years ago, resulting in species-specific inserts. Here, we report a detailed characterization of chimpanzee-specific L1 subfamily diversity and a comparison with their human-specific counterparts. Our results indicate that L1 elements have experienced different evolutionary fates in humans and chimpanzees within the past approximately 6 million years. Although the species-specific L1 copy numbers are on the same order in both species (1200-2000 copies), the number of retrotransposition-competent elements appears to be much higher in the human genome than in the chimpanzee gen

SUBMITTER: Lee J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1847406 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature