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Characterization of an unusual Ds transposable element in Arabidopsis thaliana: Insertion of an abortive circular transposition intermediate

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Abstract

The maize Ac/Ds transposable elements, which belong to the hAT transposon superfamily, are widely used as insertional mutagens in numerous plant species.Molecular studies suggest that Ac/Ds elements transpose in a conservative non-replicative fashion; however the molecular mechanism of transposition remains unclear. We describe here the identification of an unusual Ds element, Ds-mmd1, in a transgenic Arabidopsis line. Ds-mmd1 is rearranged relative to the original Ds element, such that the original 5′ and 3′ ends are internal and previously internal sequences are the new 5′ and 3′ termini of Ds-mmd1. Short duplications of plant genomic DNA and Ds sequences are present at the Ds-mmd1 junctions, suggesting that a circular Ds molecule was part of the events that created the Ds-mmd1 element. In addition, a revertant analysis on mmd1 plants demonstrated that Ds-mmd1 can be eliminated from the genome in an Ac-dependent process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, 45056, Oxford, OH

    Xiaohui Yang & Christopher A. Makaroff

  2. The Department of Biology and the Huck Institutes of Life Sciences, the Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA

    Xiaohui Yang & Hong Ma

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  1. Xiaohui Yang
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  2. Hong Ma
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  3. Christopher A. Makaroff
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Correspondence to Hong Ma or Christopher A. Makaroff.

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Yang, X., Ma, H. & Makaroff, C.A. Characterization of an unusual Ds transposable element in Arabidopsis thaliana: Insertion of an abortive circular transposition intermediate. Plant Mol Biol 55, 905–917 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-005-2225-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-005-2225-z

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