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Tnt1, a mobile retroviral-like transposable element of tobacco isolated by plant cell genetics

Nature volume 337, pages 376–380 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

Transposable elements can be identified by their ability to induce mutant alleles at new loci. The retrotransposon family is thought to transpose through an RNA intermediate and has many similarities to vertebrate proretroviruses1,2. In plants, retrotransposons have been described in maize3,4, Arabidopsis5 and wheat6, and non-viral retroposons in maize7. Most of these elements, however, have been found as non-mobile integrated units. Here, we report the isolation of the first tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) transposable element, Tnt1, which seems to be the most complete mobile retrotransposon characterized in higher plants. Tntl has been isolated after its transposition into the nitrate reductase (NR) structural gene of tobacco, and transposition events have been detected through in vitro selection of spontaneous NR-deficient (NR–) mutant lines in cell cultures derived from tobacco mesophyll protoplasts. Tntl is 5,334 nucleotides long, contains two 610-base-pair-long terminal repeats and a single open reading frame of 3,984 nucleotides. Comparison of the Tntl open reading frame coding potential with those of the Drosophila melanogaster copia retrotransposon8, yeast Ty retrotransposon9, and vertebrate proretroviruses22 revealed that Tntl is closely related to copia and carries all the functions known to be required for autonomous transposition by reverse transcription.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Albert Spielmann

    Present address: ORSAN-RECHERCHE, Les Ulis Cedex, 91953, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologic Cellulaire, I.N.R.A., Centre de Versailles, 78026, Versailles Cedex, France

    Marie-Angèle Grandbastien, Albert Spielmann & Michel Caboche

Authors
  1. Marie-Angèle Grandbastien
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  2. Albert Spielmann
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  3. Michel Caboche
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Grandbastien, MA., Spielmann, A. & Caboche, M. Tnt1, a mobile retroviral-like transposable element of tobacco isolated by plant cell genetics. Nature 337, 376–380 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/337376a0

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