Abstract
Transposable elements may acquire unrelated gene fragments into their sequences in a process called transduplication. Transduplication of protein-coding genes is common in plants, but is unknown of in animals. Here, we report that the Turmoil-1 transposable element in C. elegans has incorporated two protein-coding sequences into its inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences. The ITRs of Turmoil-1 contain a conserved RNA recognition motif (RRM) that originated from the rsp-2 gene and a fragment from the protein-coding region of the cpg-3 gene. We further report that an open reading frame specific to C. elegans may have been created as a result of a Turmoil-1 insertion. Mutations at the 5' splice site of this open reading frame may have reactivated the transduplicated RRM motif.This article was reviewed by Dan Graur and William Martin. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers' Reports section.
Highlights
The possible contribution of transposable elements to the proteome has been discussed in several publications [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] and has provoked much debate [8]
A transposable element may result in transduction, in which a DNA segment downstream of transposable elements is mobilized as part of an aberrant transposition
An analysis of C. elegans transposable elements [25,26] revealed that a 205-bp inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequence within Turmoil-1 is highly similar to a region of two exons separated by an intron of the rsp-2 gene
Summary
In the process of transduction, the transposable element does not acquire gene fragments as part of its sequence. An analysis of C. elegans transposable elements [25,26] revealed that a 205-bp ITR sequence within Turmoil-1 is highly similar to a region of two exons separated by an intron of the rsp-2 gene The high similarity between the ITR sequence and the fragment of the rsp-2 gene implies that one originated from the other.
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