Centromere-targeted de novo integrations of an LTR retrotransposon of Arabidopsis lyrata
- 19 March 2012
- journal article
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Genes & Development
- Vol. 26 (7), 705-713
- https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.183871.111
Abstract
The plant genome evolves with rapid proliferation of LTR-type retrotransposons, which is associated with their clustered accumulation in gene-poor regions, such as centromeres. Despite their major role for plant genome evolution, no mobile LTR element with targeted integration into gene-poor regions has been identified in plants. Here, we report such targeted integrations de novo. We and others have previously shown that an ATCOPIA93 family retrotransposon in Arabidopsis thaliana is mobilized when the DNA methylation machinery is compromised. Although ATCOPIA93 family elements are low copy number in the wild-type A. thaliana genome, high-copy-number related elements are found in the wild-type Arabidopsis lyrata genome, and they show centromere-specific localization. To understand the mechanisms for the clustered accumulation of the A. lyrata elements directly, we introduced one of them, named Tal1 (Transposon of Arabidopsis lyrata 1), into A. thaliana by transformation. The introduced Tal1 was retrotransposed in A. thaliana, and most of the retrotransposed copies were found in centromeric repeats of A. thaliana, suggesting targeted integration. The targeted integration is especially surprising because the centromeric repeat sequences differ considerably between A. lyrata and A. thaliana. Our results revealed unexpectedly dynamic controls for evolution of the transposon-rich heterochromatic regions.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Arabidopsis lyrata genome sequence and the basis of rapid genome size changeNature Genetics, 2011
- Chromodomains direct integration of retrotransposons to heterochromatinGenome Research, 2008
- Distribution dynamics of the Tnt1 retrotransposon in tobaccoMolecular Genetics and Genomics, 2007
- Construction and behavior of engineered minichromosomes in maizeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Analysis of retrotransposon structural diversity uncovers properties and propensities in angiosperm genome evolutionProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006
- Differential lineage-specific amplification of transposable elements is responsible for genome size variation in GossypiumGenome Research, 2006
- Centromere Locations and Associated Chromosome Rearrangements in Arabidopsis lyrata and A. thalianaGenetics, 2006
- Role of transposable elements in heterochromatin and epigenetic controlNature, 2004
- Mobilization of transposons by a mutation abolishing full DNA methylation in ArabidopsisNature, 2001
- The rice retrotransposon Tos17 prefers low-copy-number sequences as integration targetsMolecular Genetics and Genomics, 2001