Nested insertions and accumulation of indels are negatively correlated with abundance of mutator-like transposable elements in maize and rice.

ABSTRACT: Mutator-like transposable elements (MULEs) are widespread in plants and were first discovered in maize where there are a total of 12,900 MULEs. In comparison, rice, with a much smaller genome, harbors over 30,000 MULEs. Since maize and rice are close relatives, the differential amplification of MULEs raised an inquiry into the underlying mechanism. We hypothesize this is partly attributed to the differential copy number of autonomous MULEs with the potential to generate the transposase that is required for transposition. To this end, we mined the two genomes and detected 530 and 476 MULEs containing transposase sequences (candidate coding-MULEs) in maize and rice, respectively. Over 1/3 of the candidate coding-MULEs harbor nested insertions and the ratios are similar in the two genomes. Am

SUBMITTER: Zhao D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3903597 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature