LTR retrotransposons in rice (Oryza sativa, L.): recent burst amplifications followed by rapid DNA loss.

ABSTRACT:

Background

LTR retrotransposons are one of the main causes for plant genome size and structure evolution, along with polyploidy. The characterization of their amplification and subsequent elimination of the genomes is therefore a major goal in plant evolutionary genomics. To address the extent and timing of these forces, we performed a detailed analysis of 41 LTR retrotransposon families in rice.

Results

Using a new method to estimate the insertion date of both truncated and complete copies, we estimated these two forces more accurately than previous studies based on other methods. We show that LTR retrotransposons have undergone bursts of amplification within the past 5 My. These bursts vary both in date and copy number among families, revealing that each family has a parti

SUBMITTER: Vitte C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1940013 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature