Question

Transposable elements are found in the genomes of nearly every species. What sequence features can be used to distinguish RNA-based elements or retrotransposons from DNA based elements?

Answer 1

Retrotransposon

Class I TEs are copied in two stages: first, they are transcribed from DNA to RNA, and the RNA produced is then reverse transcribed to DNA. This copied DNA is then inserted back into the genome at a new position. The reverse transcription step is catalyzed by a reverse transcriptase, which is often encoded by the TE itself. The characteristics of retrotransposons are similar to retroviruses, such as HIV.

Retrotransposons are commonly grouped into three main orders:

• Retrotransposons, with long terminal repeats (LTRs), which encode reverse transcriptase, similar to retroviruses
• Retroposons, long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs, LINE-1s, or L1s), which encode reverse transcriptase but lack LTRs, and are transcribed by RNA polymerase II
• Short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) do not encode reverse transcriptase and are transcribed by RNA polymerase III

DNA transposons

The cut-and-paste transposition mechanism of class II TEs does not involve an RNA intermediate. The transpositions are catalyzed by several transposase enzymes. Some transposases non-specifically bind to any target site in DNA, whereas others bind to specific target sequences. The transposase makes a staggered cut at the target site producing sticky ends, cuts out the DNA transposon and ligates it into the target site. A DNA polymerase fills in the resulting gaps from the sticky ends and DNA ligase closes the sugar-phosphate backbone. This results in target site duplication and the insertion sites of DNA transposons may be identified by short direct repeats (a staggered cut in the target DNA filled by DNA polymerase) followed by inverted repeats (which are important for the TE excision by transposase).

Cut-and-paste TEs may be duplicated if their transposition takes place during S phase of the cell cycle, when a donor site has already been replicated but a target site has not yet been replicated. Such duplications at the target site can result in gene duplication, which plays an important role in genomic evolution.