Articles

Extrachromosomal circles of satellite repeats and 5S ribosomal DNA in human cells

Extrachomosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is ubiquitous in eukaryotic organisms and was detected in every organism tested, including in humans. A two-dimensional gel electrophoresis facilitates the detection of ec...

Authors: Sarit Cohen, Neta Agmon, Olga Sobol and Daniel Segal

The structure, organization and radiation of Sadhu non-long terminal repeat retroelements in Arabidopsis species

Sadhu elements are non-autonomous retroposons first recognized in Arabidopsis thaliana. There is a wide degree of divergence among different elements, suggesting that these sequences are ancient in origin. Here w...

Authors: Sanjida H Rangwala and Eric J Richards

Detecting variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) gene segment recombination using a two-colour fluorescence system

Diversity of immunoglobulins and the T cell antigen receptors is achieved via the recombination activating gene (RAG)-mediated rearrangement of variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) gene segments, and th...

Authors: Gina B Scott, Erika A de Wynter and Graham P Cook

Immunity of replicating Mu to self-integration: a novel mechanism employing MuB protein

We describe a new immunity mechanism that protects actively replicating/transposing Mu from self-integration. We show that this mechanism is distinct from the established cis-immunity mechanism, which operates by...

Authors: Jun Ge, Zheng Lou and Rasika M Harshey

Heads or tails: L1 insertion-associated 5' homopolymeric sequences

L1s are one of the most successful autonomous mobile elements in primate genomes. These elements comprise as much as 17% of primate genomes with the majority of insertions occurring via target primed reverse t...

Authors: Thomas J Meyer, Deepa Srikanta, Erin M Conlin and Mark A Batzer

Transposable elements in a marginal plant population: temporal fluctuations provide new insights into genome evolution of wild diploid wheat

How new forms arise in nature has engaged evolutionary biologists since Darwin's seminal treatise on the origin of species. Transposable elements (TEs) may be among the most important internal sources for intr...

Authors: Alexander Belyayev, Ruslan Kalendar, Leonid Brodsky, Eviatar Nevo, Alan H Schulman and Olga Raskina

Transposition of the Tourist-MITE mPing in yeast: an assay that retains key features of catalysis by the class 2 PIF/Harbinger superfamily

PIF/Harbinger is the most recently discovered DNA transposon superfamily and is now known to populate genomes from fungi to plants to animals. Mobilization of superfamily members requires two separate element-enc...

Authors: C Nathan Hancock, Feng Zhang and Susan R Wessler

Mobile DNA and evolution in the 21st century

Scientific history has had a profound effect on the theories of evolution. At the beginning of the 21st century, molecular cell biology has revealed a dense structure of information-processing networks that us...

Authors: James A Shapiro

Ginger DNA transposons in eukaryotes and their evolutionary relationships with long terminal repeat retrotransposons

In eukaryotes, long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons such as Copia, BEL and Gypsy integrate their DNA copies into the host genome using a particular type of DDE transposase called integrase (INT). The Gypsy

Authors: Weidong Bao, Vladimir V Kapitonov and Jerzy Jurka

Epigenetic histone modifications of human transposable elements: genome defense versus exaptation

Transposition is disruptive in nature and, thus, it is imperative for host genomes to evolve mechanisms that suppress the activity of transposable elements (TEs). At the same time, transposition also provides ...

Authors: Ahsan Huda, Leonardo Mariño-Ramírez and I King Jordan

Welcome to Mobile DNA

Authors: Nancy L Craig, Thomas H Eickbush and Daniel F Voytas