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Zaba: a novel miniature transposable element present in genomes of legume plants

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Abstract

A novel family of miniature transposable elements, named Zaba, was identified in pea (Pisum sativum) and subsequently also in other legume species using computer analysis of their DNA sequences. Zaba elements are 141–190 bp long, generate 10-bp target site duplications, and their terminal inverted repeats make up most of the sequence. Zaba elements thus resemble class 3 foldback transposons. The elements are only moderately repetitive in pea (tens to hundreds copies per haploid genome), but they are present in up to thousands of copies in the genomes of several Medicago and Vicia species. More detailed analysis of the elements from pea, including isolation of new sequences from a genomic library, revealed that a fraction of these elements are truncated, and that their last transposition probably did not occur recently. A search for Zaba sequences in EST databases showed that at least some elements are transcribed, most probably due to their association with genic regions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. H. Štěpančíková and Ms. O. Šonková for excellent technical assistance, and Ms. S. Rafelski for assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. We are also grateful to the following institutions and individuals for providing the seeds of plant species used in this study: the Western Regional Plant Introduction Station, Pullman, Wash., USA; the Plant Breeding Station at Borsov, Czech Republic; the Research Institute for Fodder Plants, Troubsko, Czech Republic; AGRITEC, Sumperk, Czech Republic; IPK Gatersleben, Germany; and Dr. M. Vavak, Horna Streda, Slovakia. This work was supported by Grant No. 521/00/0655 from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. The experiments have been carried out in compliance with the current laws governing genetic experimentation in the Czech Republic.

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  1. Laboratory of Molecular Cytogenetics, Institute of Plant Molecular Biology, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    J. Macas, P. Neumann & D. Požárková

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  1. J. Macas
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  2. P. Neumann
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  3. D. Požárková
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Correspondence to J. Macas.

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Communicated by M.-A. Grandbastien

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Macas, J., Neumann, P. & Požárková, D. Zaba: a novel miniature transposable element present in genomes of legume plants. Mol Gen Genomics 269, 624–631 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-003-0869-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-003-0869-4

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