A resurrected mammalian hAT transposable element and a closely related insect element are highly active in human cell culture.

ABSTRACT: Chromosome structure and function are influenced by transposable elements, which are mobile DNA segments that can move from place to place. hAT elements are a superfamily of DNA cut and paste elements that move by excision and integration. We have characterized two hAT elements, TcBuster and Space Invaders (SPIN), that are members of a recently described subfamily of hAT elements called Buster elements. We show that TcBuster, from the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, is highly active in human cells. SPIN elements are currently inactive elements that were recently highly active in multiple vertebrate genomes, and the high level of sequence similarity across widely diverged species and patchy phylogenetic distribution suggest that they may have moved between genomes by horizontal transf

SUBMITTER: Li X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3568352 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature