Analysis of the suffix short retroelement copies and the encoded protein domain of Drosophila

Abstract

To analyze the copies of the suffix short retro-element, its homologs were sought in nucleic acid sequence databases of the Drosophila melanogaster genome. The search yielded several conserved (near identical in sequence) copies, which are indicative of recent suffix transposition, and numerous divergent copies, which suggest ancient suffix transposition. Analysis of the short suffix ORF revealed a conserved protein domain, which was also found as the eighth C-terminal domain in reverse transcriptases of certain long interspersed elements (LINEs). The suffix-encoded polypeptide proved to be homologous to DNA- and RNA-recognizing domains.