Genome evolution of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) by BARE-1 retrotransposon dynamics in response to sharp microclimatic divergence.

ABSTRACT: The replicative spread of retrotransposons in the genome creates new insertional polymorphisms, increasing retrotransposon numbers and potentially both their share of the genome and genome size. The BARE-1 retrotransposon constitutes a major, dispersed, active component of Hordeum genomes, and BARE-1 number is positively correlated with genome size. We have examined genome size and BARE-1 insertion patterns and number in wild barley, Hordeum spontaneum, in Evolution Canyon, Lower Nahal Oren, Mount Carmel, Israel, along a transect presenting sharply differing microclimates. BARE-1 has been sufficiently active for its insertional pattern to resolve individuals in a way consonant with their ecogeographical distribution in the canyon and to distinguish them from provenances outside the canyon.

SUBMITTER: Kalendar R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC18673 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature