Excision of an active CACTA-like transposable element from DFR2 causes variegated flowers in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.].

ABSTRACT: Active endogenous transposable elements, useful tools for gene isolation, have not been reported from any legume species. An active transposable element was suggested to reside in the W4 locus that governs flower color in soybean. Through biochemical and molecular analyses of several revertants of the w4-m allele, we have shown that the W4 locus encodes dihydroflavonol-4-reductase 2 (DFR2). w4-m has arisen through insertion of Tgm9, a 20,548-bp CACTA-like transposable element, into the second intron of DFR2. Tgm9 showed high nucleic acid sequence identity to Tgmt*. Its 5' and 3' terminal inverted repeats start with conserved CACTA sequence. The 3' subterminal region is highly repetitive. Tgm9 carries TNP1- and TNP2-like transposase genes that are expressed in the mutable line, T322 (w4-m).

SUBMITTER: Xu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2815930 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature