BuT2 is a member of the third major group of hAT transposons and is involved in horizontal transfer events in the genus Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The hAT superfamily comprises a large and diverse array of DNA transposons found in all supergroups of eukaryotes. Here we characterized the Drosophila buzzatii BuT2 element and found that it harbors a five-exon gene encoding a 643-aa putatively functional transposase. A phylogeny built with 85 hAT transposases yielded, in addition to the two major groups already described, Ac and Buster, a third one comprising 20 sequences that includes BuT2, Tip100, hAT-4_BM, and RP-hAT1. This third group is here named Tip. In addition, we studied the phylogenetic distribution and evolution of BuT2 by in silico searches and molecular approaches. Our data revealed BuT2 was, most often, vertically transmitted during the evolution of genus Drosophila being lost independently in several species. Nevertheless

SUBMITTER: Rossato DO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3942097 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature